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A Korean recycler of lithium-ion batteries is the latest company plugging into the growing electric-vehicle value chain being constructed in Georgia largely with foundational links partly provided by other foreign-owned firms.
SungEel HiTech will build a $37 million factory in Toccoa, located in Stephens County in the northeastern part of the state. SungEel Recycling Park Georgia LLC, the local subsidiary, plans to hire 104 people at the plant, which will recover cobalt, nickel, lithium and other metals.
According to its website, SungEel takes secondary batteries from phones, power tools and other vehicles, then puts them through a proprietary process to create a battery powder that can be further separated into materials prized by cathode manufacturers and battery producers like fellow Korean investor SK On, which has a massive plant just down the Interstate 85 in Commerce.
SungEel is the latest participant in a growing group of companies aiming to create a closed-loop supply chain for battery production in the state, which lawmakers hope will lead to greater resiliency and a cleaner environment. Recycling tends to be less energy intensive and emits less carbon than mining the primary materials. Germany‘s Aurubis and Japan‘s Denkai both are putting hundreds of millions of dollars into copper plants in Augusta, while Ascend Elements has a separate lithium-ion recycling facility in Covington.
The SungEel deal was announced just after the passage last week of the Inflation Reduction Act, under which electric vehicles must be made in North America and their batteries produced with metals sourced from the region to qualify for subsidies. One goal is to wean the U.S. off its dependence on Chinese-made EV batteries. Georgia is “cultivating a vertically integrated supply chain that will help companies increase efficiencies by reducing the reliance on imported materials,” according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
“SungEel HiTech’s entry into Georgia is the last piece of the puzzle to build a sustainable ecosystem of Georgia’s electric vehicle supply chain,” said Suk Jae Yim, representative of SungEel Recycling Park Georgia, in a news release.
The SungEel project took eight months to come to fruition, said Brian Akin, Chairman of the Stephens County Development Authority. The company picked a Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development, or GRAD, site, one of many prepared for fast-track development around the state.
“The investments that we have made in infrastructure, workforce development, and education were all significant factors in the selection process, and we couldn’t be any happier with their decision to expand here,” Mr. Akin said.
SungEel HiTech operates plants in South Korea, China, Malaysia, India, and Hungary, with new facilities being built in Poland and Germany. The Georgia plant should be on line by 2024.
Learn more about the company at www.sungeelht.com/en or find out about job opportunities at info@sungeel.com.