Korean industry giants bet on battery recycling as global EV market matures

The LG Energy Solution, the South Korea's top battery manufacturer, has recently established joint ventures in both Europe and the United States -- partnering with France's Derichebourg and Toyota Tsusho Co., respectively.

These initiatives mark LG's first direct entry into recycling operations in these key global markets.

Meanwhile, SK Ecoplant, the construction and engineering arm of SK Group, is expanding its European operations in the Netherlands.

The facility will add an annual processing capacity of 25,000 metric tons of black mass, with the expansion slated for completion in 2025, the South Korean English-language daily newspaper added.

Going further, Posco-GS Eco Materials -- a joint venture between Posco Holdings and GS Energy, with ownership split 51:49 -- has also made a notable move by acquiring full ownership of its recycling unit, Posco HY Clean Metal.

This was achieved by purchasing the 35 percent stake held by China's Huayou Cobalt in April, the South Korea's news platform added.

These strategic shifts come amid a prolonged downturn in the battery recycling sector, fueled by weakened EV demand and falling prices of core battery minerals such as nickel, lithium, and manganese.

Lithium carbonate prices, which exceeded 450 Chinese yuan (USD 63) per kilogram in January 2023, have plummeted to about 50 yuan. Nickel has also seen a steep drop from over USD 31,000 per ton to around USD 20,000.

As a result, SungEel HiTech -- one of only two battery recycling companies listed on Korea's tech-heavy Kosdaq -- has faced falling profitability and declining free cash flow for two consecutive years.

A joint recycling venture between SungEel HiTech and SK Innovation, announced in 2022, has been postponed indefinitely. Additionally, SK Ecoplant's planned facilities in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, and in Kentucky have shown little to no progress for several years.

The news report added that the Korean industry watchers expect a sharp rise in used EV batteries reaching end-of-life status, generally around 10 years after initial use -- a timeline that aligns with the global EV sales boom in the 2010s, which topped one million units by 2015.

With global EV adoption continuing to rise, the battery recycling market -- valued at USD 8 billion in 2022 -- is forecast to grow to as much as USD 53.57 billion by 2030, according to SNE Research.

Experts argue that participating in the recycling segment is becoming crucial for maintaining competitiveness in the battery industry, especially as regulatory pressure mounts globally for the use of recycled materials.

The European Union, for instance, mandates that EV batteries sold in the region must contain minimum percentages of recycled metals by 2031: 16 percent for cobalt, 85 percent for lead, 6 percent for lithium, and 6 percent for nickel. These thresholds will increase by 2036.

In the United States, the Inflation Reduction Act excludes EVs from tax credits if key battery materials are sourced from "foreign entities of concern," further pushing manufacturers to procure materials domestically -- often through recycling.