Poland’s Ministry of Economic Development and Technology has offered the US EV battery recycling specialists, Ascend Elements, the equivalent of up to 290 million euros in funding to support the construction of a production facility for recycled cathode material in Poland.
The location in Poland for the Ascend Materials battery recycling plant has already been found, says the company, while a final investment decision has not yet been made.
Ascend Elements specialises in producing battery materials from black mass and has already been active in Poland for around a year through a joint venture with the Polish company Elemental Strategic Metals. The two companies operate a recycling plant in Zawiercie. For its new Polish plant, Ascend Elements intends to build and operate the planned cathode material plant (pCAM plant) in Poland on its own.
The company intends to use its hydro-to-cathode technology in Poland. This is a direct synthesis process to create new pCAM material from used lithium-ion cells. At the new Polish plant, Ascend Elements plans to commercialise its technology for the manufacture of sustainable nickel, manganese, and cobalt (NMC) pCAM made from recycled lithium-ion battery materials.
“We are deeply grateful for the support of the Polish government and thrilled to expand our presence in Europe,” said Tomasz Poznar, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Commercial at Ascend Elements. “This project is more than a strategic investment in cutting-edge battery materials production — it marks a critical step in transforming Europe’s battery materials landscape.”
The Ascend Vice President pointed out that by bringing the company’s technology to Poland, “We aim to help bridge the growing gap in cathode precursor supply and contribute to the EU’s strategic net-zero goals by building a sustainable circular battery materials supply chain in the region.”
While economists agree that US tariffs being touted by the current US government are bad for US consumers and businesses alike, Ascend told Latitude Media that there are some foreseeable benefits. At least, for US battery recycling, in some ways.
Eric Gratz, co-founder and chief technical officer at Ascend Elements told Latitude Media “If we were a battery manufacturer that relies on virgin materials, we would 100% have to import those, and they would most likely be subject to tariffs, because Canada and China are two large producers of those materials,” he said. “But since we rely on domestic materials through recycling, we’re not impacted.” Recycled cobalt, among other materials, is likely to become cheaper than imported cobalt.
Even so, what has negatively impacted Ascend Materials significantly is the withdrawal of approved federal funds for industry. In February earlier this year, Ascend agreed with the US federal Department of Energy (DOE) to cancel the smaller of its two grants: $164 million for CAM production at its Kentucky plant. This is paving the way for regions like Europe to welcome US expertise and technology, benefiting from the US federal funding already granted in previous years.
Ascend Elements describes the 1.22 billion Polish zloty (around 290 million euros) grant now being offered by the Polish government to establish a battery recycling plant as “one of the largest grants ever awarded by the Republic of Poland”.
Linh Austin, President and CEO of Ascend Elements, said: “This offer of support from the Polish government is an important step in Ascend Elements’ European growth strategy. We are committed to building a sustainable supply chain for battery materials on both sides of the Atlantic and greatly appreciate the Ministry’s offer of significant financial support.”
Pawel Pudlowski, Vice President of the Management Board at the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) pointed out that Ascend Elements project is one of the largest US investments in recent years, “strengthening Poland’s role in the battery supply chain and supporting regional development, including technology development and cooperation with local educational institutions.”
In the United States, Ascend Elements already owns and operates a large battery recycling plant in Covington, Georgia. The company’s plant under construction in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, has been paused. This US plant is supposed to be a similar hydro-to-cathode production plant to the planned project in Poland. The US battery recycler assures that it will resume construction of its Kentucky plant – after several hurdles have been cleared – and is scheduled to go into operation at the end of 2026.
In parallel, Ascend Elements wants to scale up its business with recycled lithium carbonate in the USA and Europe, supplying battery makers.
ascendelements.com
