E-waste recycling company TES announced the opening of a multi-million-dollar facility to recycle lithium batteries in Singapore.

Known as TES B, the plant is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, with the capacity to recycle up to 14 tonnes or the equivalent of 280,000 lithium-ion smartphone batteries a day.

In a press release, TES said that the facility hosts auto-punching machines and shredders that convert batteries into a black mass, while a chemical treatment and magnetic separators extract metals such as lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel, and aluminum.

According to the company, its technology’s recovery rate exceeds 90% and yields a purity level of almost 99%. This means that the recycled metals are commercially ready for the production of new batteries.

“Looking ahead, the battery space is potentially facing raw material commodity shortages stemming from the exponential proliferation of Internet-of-Things devices, electric vehicles, and mobility devices,” TES’s CEO, Gary Steele, said in the media brief.

“These real-world challenges need real-world solutions. Working in close partnership with the EDB (Singapore Economic Development Board) and the NEA (National Environment Agency) has enabled TES to develop an innovative battery recycling solution that further cement Singapore as being at the center of the future circular economy.”