US lithium battery recycler and cathode materials producer Ascend Elements has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it moves to restructure its balance sheet. In a post on LinkedIn, CEO Linh Austin said that the company had taken "meaningful steps to streamline operations, reduce costs, and pursue additional capital, but these efforts were not enough to overcome the company’s longstanding financial issues and outstanding liabilities". For the time being, day-to-day operations and customer commitments would continue as would work on the company's project in Poland.
Mr Austin stressed that building businesses in emerging industries is complex and capital-intensive. Ascend Elements processes black mass from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIB) into precursors for cathode active materials (pCAM) and lithium carbonate. The scale of investment required is reflected in its Hopkinsville, Kentucky facility, where the group has previously put the total investment at about $1bn (approximately €850m)....
