Recycling-Startup Batterie Resourcers to build recycling plant in Georgia
The US battery recycling start-up, supported by Jaguar Land Rover among others, is building a commercial recycling plant for lithium-ion batteries in Covington, Georgia.
The plant is scheduled to go into operation as early as August 2022, according to the company. The facility, which will be set up in an existing hall, will have a capacity to process 30,000 tonnes. Battery Resourcers says it is investing 43 million dollars (around 38 million euros) for this and is creating 150 jobs in Covington.
The company says the site is strategically located “near several electric vehicle production centres and lithium-ion gigafactories”. Covington is connected to Atlanta, about 50 kilometres 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 wider 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 sitting on mountains of discarded batteries and scrap, and right now they have very few options for responsible and cost-effective disposal,” says Michael O’Kronley, CEO and director of Battery Resourcers. “With this convenient U.S. location and our next-generation technology, we are providing a sustainable solution to help minimize the need for mining while returning valuable, battery-grade materials back into the lithium-ion supply chain.”
The company’s long-term plans include opening additional recycling facilities in North America, Europe and Asia to process up to 150,000 tonnes of lithium-ion material per year globally. In addition, Battery Resourcers confirms it is considering opening an additional facility to produce cathode materials in 2023.
The current processes will primarily recycle cathode materials from nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide (NMC), nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA) and lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries. In April 2021, Jaguar Land Rover had participated in a $20 million funding round.
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