Posted on 09 Aug 2023
South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution (LGES) announced Tuesday it will form a battery recycling joint venture with Huayou Recycling, a subsidiary of China’s Huayou Cobalt.
Together they will build two battery recycling plants in China, offering LGES’s Nanjing battery plant secondary feedstock including nickel, cobalt and lithium. The closed-loop system is a key part of LGES’ ESG strategy, Kallanish notes.
Under the agreement, the JV will process battery scrap from LGES Nanjing facility and waste batteries collected by Huayou Recycling. Production is set to start in late 2024, but LGES is yet to disclose capacity details.
Early plans include the construction of a pre-treatment plant in Nanjing and a post-processing plant in Quzhou, “a strategic location to utilise Huayou Cobalt’s pre-existing infrastructure,” the battery maker says.
In addition to securing key battery raw material supply, LGES notes the partnership will also reinforce its cost-competitiveness by increasing the amount of retrieved metals through adopting new techniques, as well as cutting back recycling costs. The manufacturer already has recycling capability at its Nanjing plant and is working with leading recyclers globally to establish an end-of-life batteries collection system.
Source:Kallanish
