Battery recycler Ascend Elements files for bankruptcy

Ascend Elements said on Friday it has started Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S., a heavy blow to investors who had sunk nearly $900 million into the company. 

Linh Austin, Ascend’s CEO, announced the decision in a post on LinkedIn late Thursday night. He said the company faced “insurmountable” financial challenges.

Ascend’s filing comes amid a softening market for electric vehicles in the U.S. and was likely compounded by the Trump administration’s decision to cancel a $316 million grant intended for a Kentucky facility that was under construction. At the time, $204 million was disbursed, but Ascend had to look for additional capital to make up the shortfall.

The market for EVs in the U.S. has hit a rough patch recently. Though sales surged prior to the end of tax credits in September last year, they haven’t quite recovered. Analysts predicted that customers who might have bought this year pulled their purchases forward to take advantage of the credit, but it didn’t help assuage automakers’ fears.

Since then, several automakers have dialed back their plans for new EVs in the U.S. For example, Volkswagen said yesterday that it was ending production of the ID.4 at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, factory in favor of the gas-powered Atlas. 

Ascend has developed a process to extract valuable critical minerals from scrap and end-of-life batteries. It says its process limits the number of steps needed to transform shredded waste into precursor materials for new cathodes.

The company has been building a 1 million-square-foot facility in Kentucky that has been beset by lawsuits and delays, according to local reports.

Like many battery-related startups, Ascend was entering a challenging and cutthroat industry. The largest market for battery materials is cells for EVs, but automakers have long lead times, and their specifications are known to change over time. Chinese manufacturers, which benefit from steady and generous state support, have been dominating the market and driving down costs.

Other recycling startups like Redwood Materials have pivoted to reusing some of the packs that flow through their sourcing network. The startup developed a way to incorporate a range of different pack types into larger, grid-scale batteries capable of powering data centers. The market for stationary storage has exploded in recent years, allowing Redwood to draw near-term revenue while continuing to build its recycling business.