Advanced battery recycling facility opens in USA
Put simply, PNE’s Flagship Recycling Facility offers advanced battery recycling capabilities enabling the US to produce and regenerate battery minerals domestically. It means it can produce black mass for the battery supply chain as well as other key materials including those based on NCM and LFP chemistries.
To explain the process: the black mass is created in the first phase of battery recycling. After the battery has been mechanically treated (i.e., disassembled and shredded), components such as plastics and aluminum can be filtered out. What remains is the black mass, which contains the battery’s active materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese. To separate this mass into its individual materials in the second recycling phase (which are then used to produce new cathodes), water and chemicals are used in a process known as hydrometallurgy.
Now, Princeton NuEnergy claims its new facility is able to consistently produce high-purity ABM from manufacturing scrap with a recovery yield exceeding >97%. Currently, it has capacity for 5000 tpa, but there are plans to expand this up to 15,000 tpa in 2026 and eventually, 50,000 tpa.
Dr Chao Yan, PNE’s co-founder and CEO, said: “In Chester, we demonstrate that the United States can lead in battery materials recovery and manufacturing – not years from now, but today. Our team’s execution has been exceptional, and this facility is our next major advancement in the battery supply chain space. United States policy is focused on creating a secure domestic energy production and supply chain, and PNE is at the forefront with our best-in-class technology and manufacturing processes.”
PNE has also outlined details of its other work, including a pilot research facility in McKinney, Texas, plus a Materials Testing Center in Princeton, New Jersey. It says its goal is to build “a network dedicated to US closed-loop battery material recovery and production.”
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