First Electric Car Battery Recycling Center Coming to Jeju Island

(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)

JEJU, Jul. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — A recycling facility for used electric car batteries will be established for the first time in the nation on Jeju Island, a popular holiday destination off the south coast of South Korea.

The Jeju provincial government announced yesterday that the groundbreaking ceremony for the facility will take place at Jeju Technopark.

Supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the project is expected to cost a total of 18.9 billion won, with funding coming from the central government, local government and the private sector.

Read More: Electric Vehicle Market on the Rise in South Korea

The recycling center will be built on a lot of 2,458 square meters and will be three stories tall. The internal design of the facility will include a venue for checking batteries and a separate research lab.

The Korea Battery Industry Association, which will also be involved in the project, will set out to establish a single standard for batteries depending on their applications.

The Korea Automotive Technology Institute and Jeju National University will also be involved in relevant research.

The local government of Jeju says the facility will initiate operations in 2020, with construction expected to be completed by December of this year, and equipment and researchers are expected to be in place by December of next year.

Song Yun-shim, the Jeju official overlooking the island’s electric car division, said that Jeju was the best place to carry out research on electric cars due to the wealth of existing infrastructure supporting the sector.

“I will do my best to help discover new businesses linked to electric cars,” said Song.

M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)