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 21st 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.

SOURCE Ascend Elements