SungEel Leaders answer questions about new facility coming to Stephens County

As WNEG News previously reported, lithium-ion battery recycler and raw materials provider SungEel Recycling Park Georgia, LLC, will locate its first U.S. recycling facility here in Stephens County.

SungEel Recycling Park Georgia’s new facility will be located at the Hayestone Brady Business Park, a Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development (GRAD) Certified site, in Toccoa.

Last week, WNEG News submitted questions to be answered by SungEel Strategic Business Team and Safety and Environment Team.

Here are our questions and their responses.

Will there be an incinerator involved in breaking down the batteries scheduled for recycling? “No. There will be an electric-powered dryer. There will not be natural gas combustion at the facility. The process operates without combustion. We receive the batteries, dismantle the modules, heat the cells to dry them and then shred the dried material to make battery powder that ships to Korea.”

Will there be any solid waste resulting from the recycling process? “All materials are recycled for beneficial reuse. Nothing goes to the landfill and nothing is going into the city’s wastewater system that the city cannot process without issue.”

If a new recycling process will be used in the plant here, has it been used elsewhere or is this a first-time trial? “Our process is the same since 2008, but the equipment has been upgraded.”

What, if any, local or state incentives is SungEel receiving by locating a plant in Stephens County? “This project is currently active, and additional details regarding the incentives will become publicly available at a later date. The state’s details will be published at www.georgia.org/about-us/georgia-department-of-community-affairs-dca.”

How does SungEel plan to be a good corporate partner in Toccoa-Stephens County? “We will invest $37-million in this facility and we plan to utilize North Georgia Technical College’s service for employee training and hiring. We want to be good community partners and will hopefully have the opportunity to participate in corporate sponsorships and donations.”

Will there be any pollutants released into the air as part of the process? “This process is fully compliant with Federal and State permitting regulations. The air permit will be in hand prior to starting operation. Once the permit application is submitted, it will be available to the public.”

Do SungEel’s recycling plans meet the requirement of Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division and Department of Natural Resources? “Yes, we are actively working with EPD and DNR throughout the permitting process.”

When does the company expect to start production? “December 2023.”

How is what you are proposing here different from what you were proposing in New York? “There was no proposal for an incinerator in New York and there will not be one in Georgia. The proposal for New York included a natural gas-fired dryer, and this proposal will use an electric-powered dryer instead. We will also be recovering more electrolyte material in Georgia.”

Will your process impact the air quality of the community? Will there be any PFAs released in your process? “There are no PFAs. We are actively working with EPD and nothing will exceed state or federal regulations.”

Will you be storing any batteries at the facility? “This is not a storage facility. There will be separate areas for raw materials and a separate area for short-term finished goods storage.”

Have you considered a financial commitment to the local fire departments in Stephens County to ensure they have the resources to extinguish any fire at your facility? “We met with local fire personnel, the EMA director and the County’s commercial building inspector to answer any questions they had. There is no special equipment needed to extinguish fires at our facility. We are committed to working with local fire and emergency management to ensure that everyone is prepared. We will have our own state of the art fire suppressant systems in place that satisfy all building codes and insurance requirements and have asked the fire personnel to work with us every six months to train our employees in fire precaution procedures. This six-month training is required at all our other facilities.”

What are the pay ranges for the 104 jobs this facility will create? “Our average pay range is above the county’s current average pay wage of $22.85/hour.”

Will Stephens County residents be considered first for filling the new positions? “One of the reasons we decided to locate in Toccoa-Stephens County is because of the local and regional workforce. We fully expect to hire locally qualified individuals to fill our positions.”

To learn about SungEel visit www.sungeelht.com/en or contact [email protected].