S. Korean Battery Companies Invest in Battery Recycling Market

A battery recycling process is demonstrated at Expo Solar 2022 in the KINTEX exhibition center in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul, in this file photo taken June 29, 2022. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean battery companies are delving into the battery recycling market as discarded batteries emerge as a promising avenue for future ventures, coinciding with the expansion of the electric vehicle market.

LG Energy Solution Ltd. on Tuesday set up a joint venture with China’s Huayou Cobalt Co. for battery recycling

The agreement commits the two to building two factories in China — one for the pre-treatment of battery scraps and used batteries and the other for the extraction of metals in post-processing.

Extracted metals will be reprocessed into cathode materials, a key component in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

Samsung SDI Co. implemented a closed-loop system to retrieve essential battery raw materials, subsequently recycling them for battery production at their facilities in Cheonan and Ulsan in 2019.

The company’s objective is to transform these facilities into a global production hub by the year 2025.

Meanwhile, SK Innovation Co. entered into a business agreement with SungEel HiTech, a lithium-ion battery recycling firm, in December last year with the aim of establishing a joint venture.

This venture aims to construct the nation’s inaugural commercial plant by merging its in-house developed lithium hydroxide extraction technology with SungEel HiTech’s technology for extracting nickel, manganese, and cobalt.

POSCO Holdings Inc. set up a joint venture named POSCO HY Clean Metal in collaboration with GS Energy Corp. and Huayou Cobalt In May 2021.

Last month, they completed a secondary battery recycling plant in the Yulchon Industrial Complex in Suncheon, about 290 kilometers south of Seoul.

According to SNE Research, the global battery recycling market is projected to grow at a rate of 17 percent annually, reaching $10.8 billion this year, $42.4 billion in 2030, and eventually $208.9 billion in 2040.

J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)