SK Ecoplant bets on US battery recycling firm Ascend Elements

South Korea’s SK Ecoplant Co., formerly SK Engineering & Construction Co., signed a stock purchase agreement (SPA) on Aug. 31 to invest $50 million in Ascend Elements Inc., a US-based lithium-ion battery recycling firm. 

The investment was part of Ascend Elements’ Series C funding for its battery recycling market share expansion, making SK Ecoplant the largest shareholder of the US company, the Korean company said on Thursday.

The SK Group’s construction arm is set to complete a value chain in the battery recycling market through the investment.

As part of its efforts to strengthen its recycling business, SK Ecoplant acquired Singapore-based electronic waste (e-waste) recycling company TES Envirocorp Pte. Ltd. for $1 billion in February.           

TES operates 43 plants in 21 countries, with major facilities in Singapore, China, Australia, the UK and Germany. 

Founded in 2015, Ascend Elements is one of North America's fastest-growing battery recycling firms.

Its technology directly synthesizes new cathode active materials from spent lithium-ion cells more efficiently than traditional methods, resulting in reduced costs, improved performance and lowered greenhouse gas emissions, according to the US firm.   

In March, the US firm was selected by SK Battery America Inc. (SKBA), Korean battery maker  SK On Co.’s US subsidiary, to recycle cell and module lithium-ion battery manufacturing scrap from SKBA’s manufacturing facility in Commerce, Georgia.

The scrap material will be recycled at Ascend Elements’ facility in Covington, Georgia, which can recover 98% of battery materials, according to Ascend Elements.

SK Ecoplant has secured strong networks in the global recycling industry through its recent investments and will preoccupy the market, which is forecast to grow to 600 trillion won ($443 billion) by 2050, the firm’s CEO Park Kyung-il stated.

Write to Jong-Pil Park at jp@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.