Recycling Is the Fastest Path to American Lithium Dominance. Ascend Elements Is Proving It.
The only U.S. company already shipping commercial-scale battery-grade recycled lithium carbonate with pCAM and graphite coming next.
Although the United States does not rely on direct imports of lithium and cobalt from China, it remains vulnerable to China’s leverage, having imported more than half of its lithium from Argentina and Chile where Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) own major stakes in the countries’ mining and processing facilities. ~ 2025 REPORT TO CONGRESS of the U.S.-CHINA ECONOMIC AND SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION
The demand for lithium and other battery materials, whether for electric vehicles (EVs), consumer electronics (C3), or grid storage (BESS), which is becoming a cornerstone of the U.S. energy infrastructure and essential for AI, has made the country’s dependence on foreign sources more apparent than ever. This has spurred efforts to develop a domestic supply chain focused on primary sources, such as the Thacker Pass mine in Nevada and the Kings Mountain Mine in North Carolina.
However, mines are not the only source of battery materials in the United States. Secondary sources, such as lithium-ion recycling, serve two main purposes. They act as a loss-prevention platform, recovering metals like lithium for reuse in the next generation of batteries. More importantly, as the lithium-ion industry is only beginning to scale in the U.S., recycling allows batteries manufactured abroad to be introduced into the domestic supply chain as new material, ensuring these resources are not lost to other countries and remain available to U.S. manufacturers.
Currently, there is overcapacity in the first stage of lithium-ion recycling, which involves shredding batteries into an intermediate known as black mass. Yet, the United States has almost no capacity to convert black mass into battery-grade material suitable for new battery production. While several companies are addressing this challenge, one company has been developing solutions in this space even before Tesla became a household name.
Ascend Elements
Battery Resourcers was founded in 2015 by Dr. Yan Wang, Eric Gratz, and Diran Apelian. In 2016, they filed a patent for their invention, Method and Apparatus for Recycling Lithium-Ion Batteries. Unlike many approaches that focus on separating and extracting individual metals, Dr. Wang and his team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute developed a method to remove impurities from the cathode metals nickel, cobalt, and manganese. These metals are then precipitated as a collective product and used to create precursor cathode active material (pCAM). When combined with a lithium precursor such as lithium carbonate, this produces cathode active material (CAM), the key component in lithium-ion battery manufacturing.
In 2022, the company rebranded as Ascend Elements and has continued to expanded its patent portfolio to include processes for early-stage lithium recovery, lithium iron phosphate recycling, and graphite recovery and regeneration back into battery grade. Ascend Elements is the first and currently the only U.S. company producing battery-grade lithium carbonate at commercial scale from recycled material.
CMB: With the battery storage market increasingly focused on AI applications and grid stability—storing surplus energy when prices are low and discharging during peak demand—how can Ascend Elements help advance the federal government’s goals in these areas?
Ascend Elements: AI-driven data centers and peak-shaving assets need domestic, low-CO₂ inputs. Our plan to produce >15 kt of battery-grade recycled lithium carbonate by 2027 underpins U.S. supply for LFP/NMC storage, enabling the exact charge-low/discharge-peak behavior policymakers want. Circular, lower-emissions materials help federal programs meet Buy American and decarbonization goals while easing grid constraints near AI data centers.
Under the Biden administration, the company received two grants for the construction of a lithium-ion recycling facility in Kentucky. The first was a cash match grant, in which the federal government would match $164 million of the total $328 million project. This project was intended to expand the facility to produce CAM, a deviation from the company’s original goals. In February 2025, Ascend Elements and the DOE agreed to cancel the grant and proceed without the CAM portion of the facility for the time being.
The second grant was for the construction of the lithium-ion recycling facility, with the DOE providing a cash match of up to $316 million of the $632 million budgeted for the project.
From the grant award announcement from the DOE:
Using Ascend Elements’ proprietary and established Hydro-to-Cathode™ direct precursor synthesis process technology, developed in the U.S., the new proposed “Apex” facility will be the first domestic, commercial-scale, integrated metal extraction and pCAM facility in the United States. It will produce enough material to supply over 250,000 electric vehicles annually.
Ascend Elements will plan, design, and build Apex 1 on an existing greenfield site in Hopkinsville, a disadvantaged community (DAC) in southwestern Kentucky. This facility will consist of multiple manufacturing buildings, office space and a warehouse, as well as support infrastructure including a rail spur, unloading/loading stations and holding tanks. The construction process will use established and approved processes for building new manufacturing sites.
The project will generate $4.4 billion in total economic impact over three years of construction and the first 10 years of operation.
It will enable sourcing of critical battery materials within the U.S. and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.
It will help create a sustainable and secure LiB economy in the U.S.
It will create more than 270 quality, good-paying jobs with benefits such as healthcare and stock options.
While there have been delays, most notably an extended Section 106 consultation with Tribal Nations and Kentucky SHPO that was fully resolved in 2023, in 2025 the company announced that the project was back on track. This coincided with Linh Austin, a veteran energy executive and board member since September 2024, becoming President and CEO of Ascend Elements in March 2025, replacing Mike O’Kronley.
Linh Austin has held previous senior level roles at McDermott, BP and ARCO, including serving as Senior Vice President for McDermott in the Middle East and North Africa, where he oversaw more than $3 billion of business and helped more than triple the company’s regional revenue in under six years. This leadership change signaled the company’s intention to accelerate its transition from an R&D focused entity with limited operations to a full-scale commercial producer of battery materials.
Grant Cancelation and a Plan to Move Forward
On October 9, 2025, it was announced that the DOE had canceled the final $100 million of the total $316 million allocated for the construction of the APEX 1 facility. While the DOE cited missed milestones as justification, the decision appears counterintuitive to the Trump Administration’s plan to secure the materials needed to support the age of AI. According to Linh Austin, however, Ascend Elements is not dependent on federal funding, and construction is scheduled to restart in early 2026, this would put the APEX 1 facility to begin commercial production just as large-scale lithium-ion manufacturing is expected to commence in North America.
Importantly, our funding path is diversified well beyond DOE. We are replacing the remaining unused portion of the DOE grant with a mix of other sources of funding available to the company including equity, project finance, municipal bonds, and other forms of debt.. Our Kentucky project remains strategic. While construction at Apex 1 is paused, we will restart beginning in 2026, with both lithium extraction and CAM lines aligned with commercial offtakes. Our business economics are not predicated on grants, but by Customer Demand, Operational Excellence and our patented Hydro-to-Cathode® technology. ~ Linh Austin CEO Ascend Elements.
Confidence in the success of this plan is further supported by an announcement that the company and Trafigura, one of the world’s largest commodity traders (>$240 billion revenue, operations in 150 countries), signed a multi-year offtake agreement for 15,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium carbonate.
“Trafigura’s global platform paired with our Hydro-to-Cathode® process turns circularity into supply security,”
said Linh Austin, President and CEO of Ascend Elements.
“Together we’ll deliver low-carbon, recycled lithium carbonate that is traceable, responsibly-sourced, and available where customers build across the U.S. and Europe, reducing carbon, cost, and geopolitical risk while accelerating a resilient battery supply chain.”
CMB: While funding from the Department of Energy has been withdrawn, Kentucky continues to attract major manufacturers, including Ford and their joint venture with SK On. Could you provide details on your current working relationship with the state, including any partnerships, incentives, or collaborative initiatives that support Ascend Elements’ operations and growth in Kentucky?
Ascend Elements: We remain all-in on Hopkinsville (Apex 1) and continue to work closely with the Commonwealth on a balanced support package. That includes access to tax-exempt municipal bonds (>$300M capacity) administered through Kentucky, which are an important factor as we sequence capital for Apex 1’s pCAM and lithium carbonate build-out, plus ongoing coordination on permitting, site readiness, and local workforce programs. The site is preserved and winterized; our near-term plan is a “lithium-first” ramp, using our Georgia line to de-risk and then replicating those unit operations in Kentucky to accelerate time to cash flow.
CMB: One of the biggest hurdles in the lithium-ion industry is building an infrastructure that requires not only specialized equipment but also skilled staff to install and operate it. Training programs are essential to the success of the lithium-ion sector. Could you provide details on the specific programs or agencies being used to develop the workforce that will eventually make up the team at Ascend Elements?
Ascend Elements: We’re building talent through three lanes:
On-site operator training at Covington, GA, which is already producing recycled lithium carbonate at commercial scale, and which also serves as as a training ground for Kentucky (learn once, replicate many).
A matrix support model through which R&D (Westborough, MA), Georgia operations, and Kentucky leadership cross-staff start-ups, SOPs, and safety culture transfer.
Local technical pipelines including community colleges, workforce boards, and veterans programs, all of which are aligned to our safety-first, compliance-first operating culture.
Ascend Elements’ Early Stage Lithium Recovery:
Ascend Elements’ early-stage lithium recovery begins with a proprietary controlled-oxygen, high-temperature pre-treatment that uses the battery’s own graphite as a reducing agent. In a single step, transition metals are rendered highly leachable, organic materials and electrolytes are safely decomposed, and lithium is converted predominantly into lithium carbonate with minimal graphite loss.
The lithium carbonate is water-leached from the resulting black mass, purified, and precipitated as battery-grade. The remaining black mass, now stripped of most of the lithium yet still containing the full complement of cathode metals and nearly all of its original graphite, feeds directly into the Hydro-to-Cathode® pCAM synthesis line and the Hydro-to-Anode® graphite recovery circuit.
CMB: With the national defense stockpile needing critical battery metals and primary domestic sources expected to come online around the end of the decade, how can Ascend Elements help supply these essential materials to support national security and defense readiness?
Ascend Elements: Critical battery materials are a readiness issue. We can recover and return lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite as Hydro-to-Anode scales into secure domestic channels, reducing exposure to overseas refining chokepoints. With Covington operating and Kentucky/Poland sequenced for lithium-first expansion, we can provide dedicated lots and traceable chain-of-custody aligned to defense specifications and strategic inventories.
Hydrometallurgy and Precursor Cathode Active Material Production.
After the lithium has been extracted, the remaining lithium-depleted black mass enters the Hydro-to-Cathode® hydrometallurgical circuit. It is leached in sulfuric acid, with the prior thermal pre-treatment having already rendered the transition metals highly soluble and graphite largely intact. Graphite is separated via centrifuge, and impurities such as iron, copper, and aluminum are precipitated and filtered.
The dissolved cathode metals (nickel, cobalt, and manganese) are supplemented as needed to achieve precise ratios for OEM cells like NMC811. Sodium hydroxide is then added to raise the pH, causing the transition metals to coprecipitate as a collective hydroxide product, the pCAM. This pCAM is sold to OEMs, where it is sintered with a lithium precursor to produce cathode active material (CAM) ready for use in new batteries.
CMB: While Ascend Elements plans to use recycled materials for the production of its pCAM, does the company have plans or have they been approached to produce commercial-scale pCAM that incorporates a mix of recycled material and virgin-sourced materials?
Ascend Elements: Yes. Our Hydro-to-Cathode® process and particle engineering can incorporate mixed inputs to meet customer specs, including transitional blends as recyclate volumes scale. Several customers have asked for commercial pathways that start with blended salts and move to higher recycled content over the contract life; we’re set up to qualify those recipes while holding performance and quality.
CMB: With China opening up to international black mass imports, how does Ascend Elements plan to ensure that critical battery materials from production scrap and end-of-life batteries remain within the U.S. supply chain and are not diverted back to China, and do you believe that over the next five years there will be sufficient domestic processing capacity to prevent this material from leaving the United States?
Ascend Elements: Our model is designed to facilitate use of materials in-region via secure logistics, documented chain-of-custody, and fee-for-service/tolling options that return cathode precursors or lithium salts directly to U.S. customers. With Georgia online and Kentucky staged, and with Poland ready to serve EU demand, we expect meaningful U.S. processing headroom to expand over the next five years, especially as we replicate our already-commissioned Georgia line in Kentucky. That scaling, combined with customer tolling, is the best answer to keeping black-mass refinement in-region.
It is also important to note that in the EU, a 2025 delegated decision classifies battery black mass as hazardous waste, which bans exports to non-OECD countries under the Waste Shipment Regulation/Basel regime. In the U.S., broad black-mass export bans have been proposed, and while they are not currently law, exports are governed by existing waste and export rules on a case-by-case basis.
Graphite Recovery from Battery Black Mass.
Ascend Elements has expanded its lithium-ion battery recycling capabilities with its Hydro-to-Anode® process. The process begins by washing the precipitate left after acid leaching and extraction of cathode materials from black mass. An acid is then once again added to remove residual cathode and separator materials as impurities.
The solution is heated to controlled temperatures to achieve the target graphite purity: 50 °C for six hours yields roughly 96 % pure graphite, while 300 °C for 24 hours produces battery-grade graphite. A final water wash then removes any remaining soluble impurities, delivering high-purity recycled graphite ready for use in new battery anodes.
CMB: How does Ascend Elements’ patented graphite recovery system position the company in the domestic market, and how do you see the landscape evolving given the proposed tariffs of up to 160% on imported graphite and the entry of legacy energy companies like ExxonMobil into anode material production?
Ascend Elements: Our patented graphite recovery (Hydro-to-Anode®), now under evaluation with strategic partners, positions us as a domestic anode-precursor supplier that complements our lithium and pCAM businesses. Potential tariffs on imported graphite would further improve the economics for U.S. feedstock and accelerate ROI for domestic processing. The entrance of legacy energy firms validates the market; our edge is circular feedstock, IP leadership, and an integrated, low-carbon flowsheet. We’re pursuing tolling and offtake structures that keep recovered carbon in the U.S. and EU supply chains.
Advancing the Discussion of Lithium-ion Recycling with the Public.
CMB: Ascend Elements has long gone above and beyond to educate the public and dispel myths surrounding lithium-ion batteries. How does the company plan to continue these efforts, and how important is public education in supporting the growth of the domestic lithium-ion and battery materials industry?
Ascend Elements: Public education is core to our philosophy and our operations. We’ll continue publishing data (including LCA insights and process visuals), highlighting U.S.-first milestones like commercial recycled lithium carbonate, and engaging OEMs, communities, and policymakers to advance understanding of the need to shift the focus from “recycling” to circular domestic manufacturing, as we have. Third-party validation and our annual Sustainability Report help keep the conversation evidence-based.
Conclusion
In the end, the strategic question facing the United States is no longer just where the next ton of lithium will come from, but how fast we can produce it domestically, at a lower cost, and outside China’s sphere of influence.
Mines like Thacker Pass and Kings Mountain are coming, but they won’t move the needle until later this decade at the earliest. Until then, recycling is one of the only real sources capable of delivering meaningful new volumes of domestic battery-grade material on the timeline we actually need.
Ascend Elements is already doing it at commercial scale in Georgia. And while the Kentucky Apex 1 project lost the last slice of its DOE grant, the company replaced it with a multi-year agreement, municipal bonds, and structured project debt. Construction restarts in 2026, where they will replicate the proven lithium carbonate production line in Georgia and expand it with the full suite of recycling technologies they have developed including Hydro-to-Cathode® pCAM production and Hydro-to-Anode® graphite recovery.
If the schedule holds (and everything Ascend has delivered so far says it will), the company will be one of the largest suppliers of low-carbon, U.S. and European sourced lithium carbonate by 2027. Proven technologies, locked-in funding, and real customer demand are turning yesterday’s batteries into tomorrow’s strategic advantage.
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DISCLAIMER: This article should not be construed as an offering of investment advice, nor should any statements (by the author or by other persons and/or entities that the author has included) in this article be taken as investment advice or recommendations of any investment strategy. The information in this article is for educational purposes only. The author did not receive compensation from any of the companies mentioned to be included in the article.