LGES to build battery recycling venture with China’s Huayou Cobalt

Participants are taking commemorative photos at the signing ceremony for the launch of the battery recycling joint venture between LGES and Huayou Cobalt, held at the headquarters of Huayou Cobalt in Zhejiang Province, China, on Aug. 7. [Courtesy of LGES]

South Korea’s electric vehicle battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. (LGES) is establishing a joint venture with China’s top cobalt producer, Huayou Cobalt Co., for battery recycling, which will mark the first South Korea-China joint venture battery recycling company to be established in China.

LGES said on Tuesday that it held a signing ceremony for the launch of the venture with Huayou Cobalt at the headquarters of the Chinese company in China on Monday. The new joint venture will extract core materials such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium from scrap and waste batteries generated during the battery production process.

The plan is to build a pre-processing plant to process scrap and waste batteries and a post-processing plant to process recycled metals in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, respectively. Full-scale construction of the plants will begin this year, with expected operations commencing by the end of next year.

The metals produced by the joint venture will then be used to produce cathode materials, which will eventually be supplied to LGES’s battery production plant in Nanjing.

Through this joint venture, the Korean battery maker will be able to secure a stable supply of core materials through a virtuous cycle of resources, and Huayou Cobalt will also gain a stable source of recycled materials and sales channels.

The two companies plan to further solidify their strategic partnership and expand cooperation in the battery recycling business.

“To build a sustainable and reliable battery supply chain, it is essential to establish a virtuous cycle of resources that manages the entire life cycle of batteries,” LGES said in a press release. “By collaborating with Huayou Cobalt, we will be able to further strengthen our customer value capabilities in the recycling sector.”

LGES is working to build a virtuous cycle of resources by exploring new business opportunities in the battery recycling and reuse market and securing partnerships with competitive players.

“By 2027, we plan to strengthen our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management by partnering with leading companies across the entire value chain in our major production centers in the U.S., Poland, and Asia,” said the company.