DRT, a waste secondary battery recycling specialist, said on the 9th it held a ceremony at its Gunsan plant in the Saemangeum Industrial Complex in Gunsan, Jeonbuk State, to mark the establishment of its high-efficiency BM (black mass) mass-production facilities for secondary battery recycling and would formally begin operating its mass-production system.
The event was organized to mark DRT's third anniversary, announce the establishment and full-scale operation of its high-efficiency BM mass-production facilities, and share the company's growth and future business direction with clients, investors, and other stakeholders.
Since its founding in 2023, DRT has pursued waste secondary battery recycling equipment and materials businesses. Based on its self-developed heat-treatment technology, it built BM production facilities that enhance safety, eco-friendliness, and cost-effectiveness, and with the launch of this mass-production line, it plans to expand capacity and strengthen business competitiveness.
BM is an intermediate raw material in the form of a black powder obtained in the process of crushing and sorting waste batteries, and is a preprocessing material for recovering key battery metals such as nickel, cobalt, lithium, and manganese. With the expansion of the electric vehicle and energy storage system (ESS) markets, it is considered a core material in the waste battery recycling industry.
DRT signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency and, after concluding a tenancy agreement, secured a 2,500-pyeong building on a roughly 4,000-pyeong site in the Saemangeum Industrial Complex to establish a mass-production system. Through this system, the company plans to accelerate the commercialization of the waste battery resource-circulation industry while contributing to the revitalization of the secondary battery industrial ecosystem centered on the Saemangeum complex.
Chief Executive Jeong Cheol-won of DRT said, "Establishing these high-efficiency BM mass-production facilities is significant in that DRT's technological prowess and business capabilities have advanced into full-scale mass production," adding, "Based on our accumulated on-site operating experience and technological competitiveness, we will help strengthen the competitiveness of the global secondary battery recycling industry and realize a sustainable circular economy."
Jeong added, "As a venture company, we have been recognized for our technology and growth potential, completing IBK Changgong Guro cohort 14, the Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC) Venture Camp cohort 18, and KDB NextOne Busan cohort 1," and said, "With investment and financial support from IBK Industrial Bank, the Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC), and the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME), we were able to carry out technology development and build mass-production facilities."
Attendees included Lee Geon-hong, deputy president of the Innovation Finance Group at IBK Industrial Bank, Kim Gwon-ho, head of the Jeonbuk West Branch of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME), and President Lee Jae-kyung of SungEel HiTech, a domestic waste battery recycling specialist.