Hyundai Motor Group is joining hands with China's Zhejiang Huayou Recycling Technology (Huayou Recycling) to build an electric vehicle battery circular economy in Indonesia.
Hyundai Motor Group said on the 12th that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Huayou Recycling, a subsidiary in charge of battery reuse and recycling under Huayou Cobalt, the world's No. 1 cobalt producer, to build an electric vehicle (EV) battery circular economy in Indonesia at its Yangjae office in Seoul.
At the signing ceremony were Jung Ho-geun, head of future strategy at Hyundai Motor Group (executive vice president), and Bao Wei, CEO of Huayou Recycling.
The battery circular economy is a key element in responding to tougher global environmental regulations, referring to an ecosystem that recycles waste (scrap) generated during battery production and end-of-life EV batteries into new battery production.
In this process, breaking down and crushing the collected scrap and batteries into "black mass" is called "pre-treatment," and extracting key minerals from the black mass to make new raw materials is called "post-treatment." Black mass is a black powder produced by physically crushing waste batteries, contains various minerals, and is used as an intermediate processed product in the waste battery recycling process.
Through this MOU, the two companies will collect battery scrap generated at HLI Green Power, the Hyundai Motor Group–LG Energy Solution battery cell joint venture plant in Indonesia, and pre-treat it into black mass at Huayou Recycling's local site.
As the use of recycled minerals in EV battery production has expanded recently, securing a stable recycling value chain has become increasingly important. To respond, the two companies also plan to review ways to expand the scope of cooperation to the overall establishment of an EV battery circular economy, including recycling end-of-life batteries going forward.
A Hyundai Motor Group official said, "This MOU is the first step toward building a circular economy that encompasses the entire battery life cycle," adding, "We will continue working to establish a sustainable battery supply chain."