Blue Whale Materials Awarded $55 Million DOE Grant to Expand Bartlesville, OK Lithium-ion Battery Recycling Facility

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Investment Will Expand Operations to Process up to 50,000 Tons of Li-ion Feedstock Annually. Approximately $3M to Go Towards Workforce Development and Community Outreach.

Blue Whale Materials Awarded $55 Million DOE Grant to Expand Bartlesville, OK Lithium-ion Battery Recycling Facility

For media inquiries:
Elizabeth Norton
Brunswick Group
(202) 290-6408
enorton@brunswickgroup.com

Blue Whale Materials (BWM), a leader in advanced lithium-ion battery recycling, has received a contracted grant award of over $55 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing Program.

The expansion is expected to create 150 permanent jobs and 180 construction jobs, boosting local employment in Bartlesville and will help contribute to the state's sustainable growth.

Approximately $3M of the grant will go towards workforce development and community outreach through expanded partnership programs with The Delaware Tribe of Indians, Blue Star Recyclers, Tri County Tech, and James Emmett and Company.

The selection is part of BWM’s larger $110 million expansion initiative, which will enable BWM’s Bartlesville, Oklahoma state-of-the-art facility to process up to 50,000 tons of battery feedstock annually and produce enough valuable critical minerals to power over 100,000 electric vehicles annually.

The expanded operations will convert 3.5 times more end-of-life batteries and production scrap into Blacksand™, a high-purity, dry, mixed-metal precursor that stands apart from conventional black mass. This state-of-the-art process recovers up to 98% of the cobalt and nickel in lithium-ion batteries and production scrap and significantly reduces contaminants such as aluminum, copper, and fluorine – resulting in a high metal recovery rate and creating an optimized input for downstream metal refiners and battery material manufacturers.

“We’re thrilled to have the U.S. DOE’s support, and this contracted award is further validation of BWM’s pioneering battery recycling process,” said BWM CEO Robert Kang. “This award directly supports Blue Whale’s mission of building a sustainable and resilient domestic supply chain of critical minerals. Blue Whale’s expansion in Bartlesville enables an increased high-grade black mass production capability, fueling economic growth, quality jobs, and investment in a historic energy community.”

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, who recently hosted Blue Whale Materials on a trade mission to Japan and South Korea remarked that “As the need for critical minerals grows, it is clear that we need to secure this supply chain. I’m proud Blue Whale calls Oklahoma home. Their growth in our state aligns with our focus on self-sufficiency in critical materials production and will bring quality jobs and investment to Oklahoma."

BWM is a portfolio company of Ara Partners, a global private equity firm that is decarbonizing the industrial economy. By scaling up operations, BWM will further establish itself as a leading supplier of critical minerals for electric vehicle manufacturers, battery producers, and energy storage companies. The expansion is another meaningful step toward creating a closed loop and sustainable feedstock solutions for spent lithium-ion batteries.

For more information about Blue Whale Materials, please visit www.bluewhalematerials.com

About Blue Whale Materials

Blue Whale Materials is an innovative leader in sustainable battery recycling, dedicated to improving the li-ion battery value chain. With its proprietary technology, the company processes spent li-ion batteries to produce premium, high-concentrated Blacksand™ containing cobalt, nickel, and lithium. The company's inaugural processing facility, located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, is set to commence operations in late 2024. Blue Whale Materials also offers comprehensive end-of-life battery testing and grading services, through its BW Energy and Innovation battery testing and evaluation lab located in Greenfield, Indiana. For more information, please visit its website here.

About Ara Partners

Ara Partners is a private equity firm focused on industrial decarbonization investments. Ara Partners invests in the industrial and manufacturing, chemicals and materials, energy efficiency and green fuels, and food and agriculture sectors, seeking to create companies with significant decarbonization impact. It operates from offices in Houston, Boston and Dublin, Ireland. As of June 30, 2024, Ara Partners had approximately $6.2 billion of assets under management. For more information about Ara Partners, please visit www.arapartners.com.