LG Energy Solution is focusing on expanding the battery recycling and reuse markets. The goal is not only to build a closed-loop system for resources from materials and supplies production to consumption and disposal, but also to foster future growth through new businesses.
According to the industry on 24th, LG Energy Solution said in Jun. that it would team up with Toyota Tsusho Corp., the trading company of Japan's Toyota Group, to establish GMBI, a recycling joint venture in North Carolina. With annual processing capacity of up to 13,500 tons, it can handle post-use electric-vehicle batteries and scrap equivalent to more than 40,000 vehicles per year.
The new joint venture is a front-end processing plant specializing in safely breaking and shredding post-use batteries and process scrap generated during battery manufacturing to produce black mass. The black mass produced through the joint venture is reprocessed through a separate downstream step into key minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel and is recycled for battery production.
In Apr., it also said it would establish a battery recycling joint venture with an annual capacity of 20,000 tons in Val-d'Oise, France, with Derichebourg (DBG), the No. 1 metal recycling corporations in France. By ramping up the recycling business in France, one of Europe's largest electric-vehicle consumption markets, the company aims to proactively respond to European utilization regulations and lead the creation of a sustainable battery ecosystem.
LG Energy Solution has also achieved results in the business of reusing post-use electric-vehicle batteries. Battery reuse involves collecting batteries that have reached the end of their life or can no longer be used in electric vehicles, conducting an initial diagnosis, and selecting those suitable for reuse. After a condition check, batteries deemed safe for reuse are commercialized according to their intended use.
LG Energy Solution is installing and operating a reused energy storage system (ESS) for EV charging at Ochang Energy Plant 1 using reused batteries. The ESS system is made using batteries removed from electric taxis that have traveled more than 100,000 kilometers. Using a 100-kilowatt (kW) charger, it can fully charge a pure electric vehicle to travel about 300 kilometers in about an hour, based on the Bolt from General Motors (GM). LG Energy Solution is also developing a North American reuse ESS business using post-use batteries, and reuse ESS systems for UPS (uninterruptible power supply) and backup power.
In addition, LG Energy Solution is working to achieve zero waste to landfill at all business sites. The Nanjing plant in China received the highest Platinum rating from UL (Underwriters Laboratories), a global certification body, by being recognized for a 100% resource circulation rate. Ochang Energy Plant 1 in Korea received a Gold rating for achieving a resource circulation rate of more than 90%.
The U.S. business sites also obtained Landfill Zero certification from the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) in the United States, which recognized that landfilled waste accounts for less than 1% of total waste.
An LG Energy Solution official said, "We will take the lead in building a closed-loop system for battery resources to realize a sustainable future and customer value."