US battery company Ascend Elements has announced that it will be operating a new recycled lithium carbonate production line at its Covington site in Georgia from 2025. According to the company, the plant will produce up to 3,000 tonnes of the material per year. As feedstock, Ascend Elements will use end-of-life lithium-ion batteries.
Significantly lower carbon emissions
After completion, the new plant would increase US production of lithium carbonate by 60 percent since there is currently no large-scale production of recycled lithium carbonate in the United States. The only other domestic source is a mine in Nevada. Ascend Elements claims its lithium recovery process generates significantly lower carbon emissions than conventional methods. While the processing of spodumene releases around 16.7 kilogram of carbon dioxide per kilogram of lithium carbonate, the companyʼs process is said to release only 2.27 kilogram.
