A European company will construct a $109.2 million fertilizer production plant in Hopkinsville that will recycle waste salt from battery production at Ascend Elements, Gov. Andy Beshear’s office announced Thursday in a press release.
Cinis Fertilizer, based in Sweden, plans to employ 65 full-time workers at the facility near Ascend Elements, a facility that is designed to manufacture cathode active material for the EV battery industry.
“We are very excited to be taking a first step outside the Nordics and continuing our expansion by establishing our next production facility in Hopkinsville,” Cinis Fertilizer founder and CEO Jakob Liedberg said in the release. “We will recycle waste streams from Ascend Elements to produce an environmentally friendly mineral fertilizer, enabling a more sustainable agriculture.”
In another partnership involving Ascend, SK ecoplant, and its recycling subsidiary, TES, announced in September 2023 plans to build a $65 million lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Hopkinsville that will disassemble and shred approximately 56,000 electric batteries a year.
Kentucky has worked hard to ensure that we see investment and job creation in every corner of the state, and Hopkinsville has continually been a hub for both, Beshear said. “This investment from Cinis Fertilizer builds on the economic growth Christian County has seen in recent years, and I’m excited to see this company thrive in its New Kentucky Home.”
The Cinis manufacturing facility will be at 200 Recharge Blvd. in Commerce Park II. The industrial park is along John Rivers Road approximately 2 miles northwest of Pembroke.
Beshear’s announcement came on the same day the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved a 15-year incentive agreement for Cinis. The performance-based agreement could provide up to $1.5 million in tax incentives.
The incentives are contingent with the company creating 65 full-time jobs across 15 years that pay an average hourly wage of $38, including benefits.
According to a statement posted on the Cinis website, the company signed a 10-year agreement with Ascend in September 2023.
“The agreement pertains to sourcing of up to 240,000 tons per annum of sodium sulphate starting in 2026,” states the Cinis website. … Cinis Fertilizer’s business concept is to produce environmentally friendly mineral fertilizer by using half as much energy as today’s production methods, resulting in a fossil free fertilizer with a close to zero carbon footprint. A unique contribution to a more sustainable agriculture industry.”
The Hopkinsville plant will be the third Cinis facility. The other two are in Sweden.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
