LG Energy Solution announced Monday its intensified focus on battery recycling and repurposing, highlighting the sector as a pivotal growth engine and a cornerstone of its commitment to sustainability.
This strategic initiative aims to develop a closed-loop resource management system encompassing the entire lifecycle of batteries, from initial raw material sourcing and production to in-use applications and eventual recycling. This system will enable the recovery and reuse of critical minerals in new battery manufacturing.
As a key component of this strategy, LG Energy Solution established a recycling joint venture, Green Metals Battery Innovations, in North Carolina in June of last year. The partner in this venture is Toyota Tsusho, the trading arm of Japan’s Toyota Group.
The North Carolina facility boasts an annual processing capacity of up to 13,500 metric tons of battery materials, equivalent to the batteries from over 40,000 electric vehicles. Its expertise lies in preprocessing, which includes the safe shredding of end-of-life batteries, and manufacturing scrap into “black mass.” This black mass is then refined to extract valuable materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, which are subsequently used in the production of new batteries.
This move follows the establishment of another joint venture in April of the previous year with Derichebourg, a leading French metal recycling company, with the goal of strengthening LG’s recycling capabilities within Europe. The company stated that this partnership will enable them to effectively address increasingly stringent EU regulations while simultaneously promoting a sustainable battery ecosystem.
LG Energy Solution is also proactively expanding the commercial deployment of repurposed batteries.
Their “EV Charging Reuse ESS,” which is currently in operation at the Ochang Energy Plant, utilizes retired batteries sourced from electric taxis that have traveled over 100,000 kilometers. The system supports 100-kilowatt fast charging, providing enough power for an all-electric GM Bolt to achieve approximately 300 km of range with just a one-hour charge.
“By establishing a circular battery resource system, we aim to lead the transition to a sustainable future while enhancing customer value,” stated an official from LG Energy Solution.
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