Elemental Holding to build EV battery recycling plant in Poland

Elemental Holding S.A, Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland, has announced that it will build a facility to recycle spent lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles and other products in the city of Zawiercie in southern Poland.

Elemental says it has acquired land for the plant in co-operation with the local authorities and the local special economic zone in Katowice, the country’s main industrial area.

The facility will use technology that enables the recovery and green production of nickel, cobalt, lithium and other metals and raw materials that are essential for the lithium-ion battery value chain, according to the company, which expects operations to begin in 2023.

The company says as part of the project, dedicated technology will be developed in cooperation with Poland’s technological universities from Wrocław and Gliwice, as well as with the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and leading global suppliers of advanced production equipment.

A spokesperson for Elemental says the facility will measure approximately 500,000 square meters, or 5.4 million square feet, but declines to comment on the target capacity, adding that it likely will be "considerable."

He notes that Poland and Central Europe are home to a growing number of battery plants. 

According to an article in Politico, "Poland’s scale is mostly due to an LG factory in Kobierzyce in the southwest of the country. The Korean company’s facility is Europe’s biggest factory of batteries for e-vehicles, producing 20 gigawatt-hours’ worth a year." The article adds that the factory could be the biggest in the world  in light of a Polish-government-supported 300-million-euro expansion to produce 100 gigawatt-hours' worth of batteries annually, which is an estimated 60 percent of Europe’s current demand.

“We have reached another milestone in what is one of Europe’s most ambitious commercial projects aimed at reducing emissions as well as providing support for the development of e-mobility and circular economy across the continent,” says Michał Zygmunt, vice president of Elemental Holding. “The recycling and reuse of metals from car batteries will lead to carbon savings of as much as 98 percent compared with their primary counterparts. It is therefore seen as a critical part of the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

Elemental Holding's companies manufacture strategic raw materials sourced through the processing of end-of-life electronics, catalytic converters, printed circuit boards and nonferrous scrap metals. Its companies operate in 15 countries across three continents: Europe, Asia and North America.

The company recently acquired two U.S. companies involved in catalytic converter recycling. 

In September, Elemental announced the purchase of Legend Smelting and Recycling (LRS), a Hebron, Ohio-based company that sources catalytic converters and nonferrous scrap, including lead-acid batteries, copper wire, radiators, starters and transmissions, from across North America, including Mexico. LRS has locations in Ohio, California, Illinois, Indiana and Texas.

Earlier this year, Elemental purchased Maryland Core Inc., a Baltimore-based buyer and recycler of catalytic converters, used auto parts and other automotive scrap materials.