Singapore lithium battery recycler NEU Battery Materials has appointed a chief of staff as the firm enters its third year.
The startup, which was among the winners of sustainability innovation contest The Liveability Challenge in 2021, was co-founded by National University of Singapore (NUS) graduates Bryan Oh and Kenneth Palmer. The duo set out to plug the supply gap for lithium, a material in increasing demand to make electric vehicle batteries.
Joining the fledgling firm as chief of staff is Alex Polglase, a fluent Chinese speaker who was previously with Chinese e-commerce company JD.com as business development manager, based in London. He moves to Singapore to take on the new role.
Over his career, Polglase has had stints at ByteDance, the owner of video platform TikTok, and at Chinese affairs portal ThinkINchina.
NEU Battery Materials received seed funding in June last year. The firm believes its technology, which was invented by NUS associate professor Wang Qing, is a gamechanger in keeping lithium supply in circulation, using an environmentally-friendly recycling method.
Typically, recovering metals from batteries involves burning or using acid. Currently, only about 5 per cent of Lithium-ion batteries, the rechargeable batteries most commonly found in EVs, are recycled globally.
