The US battery recycling startup, which is supported by Jaguar Land Rover, among others, is building a commercial recycling plant for lithium-ion batteries in Covington, Georgia.
According to the company, this should go into operation in August 2022. The plant, which will be set up in an existing hall, will have a processing capacity of 30,000 tons. According to Battery Resourcers, it is investing 43 million dollars (around 38 million euros) and creating 150 jobs in Covington.
The company states that the site is strategically located “near several electric vehicle manufacturing centers and lithium-ion gigafactories.” Covington is connected to Atlanta, regarding 50 kilometers away, via Interstate 20. In Georgia, SK Innovation is building a battery factory to supply VW and Ford, among others. The car plants in the surrounding area also include production facilities of German companies, such as VW in Chattanooga (ID:.4), Mercedes in Tuscaloosa (EQE SUV and EQS SUV) and BMW in Spartanburg (including PHEV models). The Volvo plant in Ridgeville, South Carolina (electric XC90 successor, Polestar 3) is also still accessible.
“Automotive OEMs are saddled with mountains of discarded batteries and scrap and currently have very few options for responsible and cost-effective disposal,” said Michael O’Kronley, CEO and director of Battery Resourcers. “With this convenient location in the United States and our next-generation technology, we offer a sustainable solution to minimize mining needs while recycling valuable battery-grade materials back into the lithium-ion supply chain.”
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The company’s long-term plans include opening additional recycling facilities in North America, Europe and Asia to process up to 150,000 tons of lithium-ion material per year worldwide. In addition, Battery Resourcers confirms considerations to open an additional plant for the production of cathode materials in 2023.
The current processes are primarily intended to recycle cathode materials from nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC), nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. In April 2021, Jaguar Land Rover participated in a $20 million financing round.
batteryresourcers.com
