A new battery recycling facility will deepen Kentucky’s ties to the electric vehicle sector

By BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press

A recycling facility will be built in Kentucky to shred electric vehicle batteries in a $65 million venture. The facility in Hopkinsville will create about 60 jobs. That’s according to U.S.-based Ascend Elements, which is partnering with South Korea-based SK ecoplant. Construction is set to begin in November and be completed in January 2025. Each year, the facility will produce about 12,000 metric tons of black mass. It’s a powder containing cathode and anode materials inside an electric vehicle battery. The black mass will help supply Ascend Elements’ engineered battery materials facility. That’s a $1 billion project also under construction in Hopkinsville.