Battery recycling firm Blue Whale Materials plans to build a Li-ion battery processing facility in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The new plant will be located within a 35-acre campus including 150,000 square feet of warehouse space at the Bartlesville Industrial Park, and encompasses multiple lots designed to facilitate comprehensive battery processing, testing, dismantling and storage. The project is expected to create over 90 new jobs in Bartlesville.

The facility will use Blue Whale’s proprietary Blacksand technology, which processes spent Li-ion batteries and production scrap into a highly concentrated dry product containing cobalt, nickel and lithium as well as copper and aluminum products. Blue Whale’s process removes organics and impurities, ensuring a high-purity material that simplifies downstream refining steps. The company says that, unlike traditional wet processes, which can complicate further refining, the dry Blacksand technology streamlines the recycling process and enhances the quality of the recovered materials.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt expressed his support for the decision. “I am thrilled to welcome Blue Whale Materials to Oklahoma, and I applaud their choice of Bartlesville for their innovative battery recycling facility. Blue Whale’s investment here aligns with our state’s ‘more of everything’ approach to our nation’s energy needs.”

Source: Blue Whale Materials