Sungeel and Samsung C&T's German venture finds new location

The previously announced joint venture between the Korean recycler Sungeel and the material company Samsung C&T, that was to set up a recycling plant in Rudolstadt in Germany has found a new location in since local protests stopped the initial plans. This after the city council of Gera in the state of Thüringia has approved the company's planning application with a marginal majority.

Sungeel, supported by Samsung C&T was planning to set up a pre-processing facility in Rudolstadt, also in Thüringia, with a capacity of 20,000 tonnes per year. The plans were however met by massive protests and eventually the group abandoned the plans. The plant was scheduled to be built in the beginning of 2023 with commissining by the end of the year.

The plant which still is subject to final approval is now planned to be erected in the industrial area Gera-Cretzschwitz an hour from the initial location and 50 minutes from CATL's battery factory in Erfurt. The capacity remain and at full production the plant is expected to create 100 annual jobs. The total investment amounts to

€45M.

This is not the first time Sungeel has met local protests when setting up its facilities. A plant in Endicott in the state of New York was met with massive protests in 2018 and so was a planned plant in Poland before it changed location. Also the British battery recycler Storm Energia (Lincoln Storm) has abandoned plans to establish a plant in Poland. For the planned Gera plant Sungeel has set up a special website through which it in detail describes the new plant for the local community.

The Finnish battery recycler Fortum is also planning to set up a pre-processing plant in the same area, in the city of Artern.