Princeton NuEnergy Inc. (PNE) has announced that its Advanced Black Mass (ABM™) recycling facility in Chester, South Carolina, is fully commissioned and operational. As the first U.S. commercial-scale site for both Advanced Black Mass and battery-grade cathode active material production in NCM and LFP chemistries, the facility underscores domestic capabilities for regenerating and producing critical battery minerals.
Operating at an initial capacity of 5,000 metric tons per annum (tpa), the plant processes manufacturing scrap through PNE’s proprietary low-temperature plasma-assisted separation and direct recycling technology. The process meets all federal and state environmental and safety standards, with strict standard operating procedures ensuring traceability and material quality. To date, the facility has achieved recovery yields exceeding 97%, surpassing industry norms and delivering high-value feedstock for downstream battery manufacturing.
Plans are underway to increase throughput to 15,000 tpa in 2026, with further expansion to 50,000 tpa possible as market demand grows. This phased growth strategy is designed to support a secure domestic battery supply chain and help meet the rapidly rising demand for electric vehicle and energy storage batteries.
PNE also operates a joint pilot facility in McKinney, Texas, advancing direct-recycling research and scale-up efforts. In addition, the company recently opened a Materials Testing Center in Princeton, New Jersey—the largest third-party battery materials testing resource in the U.S. Northeast—which will provide validation services and application testing to accelerate U.S. battery manufacturing.
Founded at Princeton University, PNE has secured more than $55 million in grants and strategic funding from partners including Honda, LKQ, Samsung, Shell Ventures, Wistron and the U.S. Department of Energy. The company’s technology delivers a 38% reduction in processing costs and a 69% lower environmental footprint compared to conventional methods. PNE has been recognized by TIME Magazine and Statista on America’s Top GreenTech Companies list for 2025 and on the inaugural World’s Top GreenTech Companies list.
Source: PR Newswire
