Blue Whale Materials to open Oklahoma battery processing facility

Li-ion battery recycling company Blue Whale Materials has announced its first li-ion battery processing facility in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. 

The facility - which is expected to begin operations in late 2024 - will be situated 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 Materials' proprietary ‘Blacksand’  technology that processes spent li-ion batteries and production scrap into a highly concentrated dry product containing cobalt, nickel and lithium as well as copper and aluminium products. 

“We are pleased to be able to contribute to the economic vitality of the region as we continue to reshape the battery industry,” stated Robert Kang, CEO and Co-Founder of Blue Whale Materials.