New Lithium Recovery Line at Covington, Ga. Battery Recycling Facility to Produce Up to 3,000 Metric Tons of Lithium Carbonate (Li₂CO₃) Annually

COVINGTON, Ga., Dec. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascend Elements, a vertically integrated battery materials company, will begin producing >99% pure, sustainable lithium carbonate (Li₂CO₃) recovered from used lithium-ion batteries at its facility in Covington, Ga. in 2025. The company plans to produce up to 3,000 metric tons of sustainable, domestic Li₂CO₃ per year. Currently, recycled Li₂CO₃ is not produced at a commercial scale anywhere in the United States. The only other domestic source of Li₂CO₃ is from a mining operation in Nevada.

"This is the first new, domestic source of lithium carbonate in the 21^st Century," said Eric Gratz, co-founder and CTO of Ascend Elements. "This new domestic supply of a critical battery material will help U.S. industries meet growing demand while avoiding the possibility of tariffs on imported materials."

Li₂CO₃ is used to make advanced batteries for grid-scale energy storage applications as well as electric vehicles, boats and aircraft. According to Gratz, Ascend Elements' innovative lithium recovery process produces a remarkably low level of carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional methods like mining and brine extraction.

Ascend Elements' innovative lithium extraction process produces just 2.27 kg of CO₂ emissions per 1 kg of Li₂CO₃ produced. By comparison, spodumene mining produces approximately 16.7 kg of CO₂ emissions per 1 kg of Li₂CO₃ and Chilean brine extraction produces approximately 3.6 kg of CO₂ emissions per 1 kg of Li₂CO₃. These preliminary comparisons are from a life cycle assessment (LCA) not yet critically reviewed.

"To put this in perspective, our current process of lithium extraction from used lithium-ion batteries is about 86% less carbon-intensive compared to spodumene mining and 37% less carbon-intensive compared to Chilean brine extraction," Gratz said.

The Ascend Elements facility in Covington is one of North America's largest lithium-ion battery recycling facilities. In operation since August 2022, the plant has the capacity to recycle up to 30,000 metric tons of lithium-ion battery materials per year or approximately 70,000 EV battery packs annually.

Founded in 2015 and based in Massachusetts, Ascend Elements is a leading provider of sustainable, closed-loop battery material solutions. Beyond battery recycling, the company produces sustainable lithium-ion battery materials, including Li₂CO₃, NMC pCAM and NMC CAM made from recycled battery materials. Ascend Elements' patented Hydro-to-Cathode® direct precursor synthesis technology produces new cathode material from spent lithium-ion cells more efficiently than traditional methods, resulting in improved economics and lowered carbon emissions.

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SOURCE Ascend Elements