Elemental Strategic Metals of Zawiercie, Poland and Ascend Elements of Westborough, Mass., today announced the formation of AE Elemental™, a joint venture based in Zawiercie, Poland. Together, the companies will jointly own (50/50) and operate a newly constructed, best-in-class electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling facility in Zawiercie, Poland. The state-of-the-art facility will disassemble, discharge and shred EV batteries to produce black mass, which can be used to make new engineered EV battery materials, including cathode active material (CAM) and cathode precursor (pCAM). The facility has the capacity to recycle up to 12,000 metric tons of batteries per year, or approximately 28,000 EV batteries annually.

Both JV partners agreed to jointly invest in large-scale lithium extraction from black mass. Lithium extraction capabilities processing up to 20 000 metric tons of black mass per year will begin construction in Fall 2024 to be operational in 2026.

Additionally, the companies plan to begin building a new, state-of-the-art EV battery recycling facility in central Germany. The AE Elemental facility in Germany will have the capacity to recycle up to 25,000 metric tons of batteries per year, or approximately 58,000 EVs annually.

“Our partnership with Ascend Elements is more than just a strategic move into the battery recycling industry, it is a transformative step towards becoming a key player in the battery materials industry,” said Pawel Jarski, CEO of Elemental Holding. “The combination of Ascend Elements’ cutting-edge technology with our recycling expertise, large collection network, recycling platform and global footprint puts AE Elemental in a pole position in this evolving market.”

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“The AE Elemental JV is a significant milestone for Ascend Elements, representing our first commercial-scale battery recycling facility in Europe. We’re pleased to be working closely with Elemental Strategic Metals,” said Mike O’Kronley, CEO of Ascend Elements. “Expanding into Europe will allow us to better service our customers locally and help the industry comply with new EU rules requiring recycled material in new batteries. This is a perfect time to expand our operations.”