Author name: Cornelius Karow

The U.S. battery recycler Ascend Elements has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company says its goal is to achieve long-term financial stability. This move comes amid ongoing liabilities and structural issues from the past that could not be resolved through cost-cutting measures and new financing approaches. Ascend Elements points to more than $2 billion in commercial agreements, as well as $320 million in government funding in Poland. However, these measures were apparently insufficient to secure the company’s liquidity on a sustainable basis.  Operations are reportedly going to continue as usual during the restructuring process. Existing customer contracts, including a purchase agreement with Trafigura, are set to remain in place. Ascend Elements is positioning itself in the battery materials market amid the trends of electrification and regionalization of supply chains. The company’s proprietary hydro-to-cathode process is at the core of this strategy and is intended to produce materials such as lithium carbonate and pCAM in an integrated process. According to the company, this process reduces steps, chemical usage, and emissions while achieving cost parity with Asian producers. Production at the Covington, Georgia plant has reportedly already reached commercial scale. Since 2025, the plant has produced lithium carbonate with a purity of over 99 percent. Additional facilities in Kentucky and Poland are under construction or in the planning stages. Building up these production capacities is capital-intensive and puts additional strain on the company’s finances. Source:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/opening-door-new-era-ascend-elements-ascendelements-wnymc/

As part of the SIB:DE consortium, the Aachen-based company Cylib is participating in the development of an industrial recycling process for sodium-ion batteries. Twenty-five partners from industry and research are working on the project, including VARTA, EDAG, and several Fraunhofer Institutes. Funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space, the project is scheduled to run until early 2029. The project aims to develop large-format sodium-ion cells, while simultaneously investigating their recyclability. The aim is to lay the groundwork for industrial production before significant quantities of used batteries become available. EDAG Production Solutions coordinates the project activities. Cylib, in collaboration with the Technical University of Braunschweig, is leading the recycling activities. Focus on two recycling pathways Specifically, two different pathways are being examined. One is based on established mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes. The second approach, known as direct recycling, involves reusing active materials without complete chemical processing. According to the project description, this approach could reduce costs and preserve material properties, particularly for production waste. A pilot demonstration is planned for 2029. cylib states that it is pursuing a strategy of building up recycling capacities at an early stage. The company is planning an industrial facility at CHEMPARK Dormagen with an annual processing capacity of up to 60,000 tons. The company has implemented a similar approach for lithium-ion batteries and raised over 140 million euros for this purpose. Source:https://www.cylib.de/post/cylib-pioneers-sodium-ion-battery-recycling-with-german-industry-and-research

The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research (IFAM) is developing an electrochemical process to recover critical raw materials from batteries. The focus is on lithium, cobalt, and nickel, the demand for which has risen significantly due to the increased use of lithium-ion batteries. The project, named “MeGaBat,” aims to recover high-purity materials from recycling processes, thereby closing the material cycle. Process adaptable to various metals The process is based on treating process water from battery recycling. This water is fed into an electrochemical reactor where specially manufactured electrodes selectively bind ions from the wastewater. These electrodes are produced using a screen-printing process and can be adapted to various metals. This allows not only lithium, but also cobalt, nickel, and copper, to be isolated. At the end of the process, the separated substances are in powder form. Compared to hydrometallurgical processes, this method reportedly requires no additional chemicals and consumes less energy. It also promises a 30-40% increase in efficiency. As part of the project, the technology has already been tested on a laboratory scale. Currently, a pilot plant is being built for larger-scale tests. The project is scheduled to run until the end of 2028 and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space. Source:https://www.ifam.fraunhofer.de/en/Press_Releases/electrochemical-process-enables-recovery-of-valuable-raw-materials.html