South Korean company plans $102M recycling plant in Kokomo for EV industry

A South Korea-based company plans to build a chemical recycling plant in Kokomo to serve the lithium-ion battery and electrical vehicle industry, creating 100 jobs by the end of 2024.

Jaewon Industrial announced Wednesday that its new JWA Co. Ltd. subsidiary will invest $102 million in the operation to be built on 30 acres of land at 100 East in Kokomo. It expects to serve the new Stellantis and Samsung SDI electric vehicle battery venture in Kokomo as well as other battery manufacturers in Indiana.

“The secondary battery and semiconductor industries in North America have been seeing rapid growth over the last few years,” Jaewon Shim, CEO of Jaewon Industrial, said in written remarks. “By establishing a presence in Indiana, we hope to help secure Indiana as the center of the North American secondary battery and semi-conductor supply chains. Jaewon Industrial is also committed to investing in R&D as well as innovation of leading environmentally friendly solutions for businesses.”

JWA’s first phase of construction will involve the building of  a 65,000-square-foot facility to disperse slurry and a recycling facility for n-methylpyrrolidone. The company is also finalizing plans for a second, 150,000-square-foot facility to disperse slurry.

If JWA meets its job creation goals, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. has agreed to provide up to $2 million in incentive-based tax credits, $500,000 in training grants and $500,000 in manufacturing readiness grants.

JWA’s announcement comes just a month after Indiana Commerce Secretary Brad Chambers’ participation in South Korea’s InterBattery Conference.

“With the addition of JWA,” Chambers said in a news release, “Hoosiers will be supporting the full lifecycle of energy storage and electric vehicle production–from R&D to production to recycling–helping usher in the global energy transition and shared sustainability goals.”