LG Energy Solution and Huayou Recycling establish battery recycling JV

LG Energy Solution (LGES) announced the establishment of its first battery recycling joint venture (JV) with Zhejiang Huayou Recycling Technology Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of Huayou Cobalt.

The strategic move will ensure a stable supply of waste batteries and battery scraps that are vital to LGES in developing an integrated closed-loop manufacturing system, and further securing the company’s key battery raw materials.

The new JV will oversee the construction of two battery recycling plants in China - a pretreatment plant in Nanjing, where LGES is currently operating its battery production facility, and a post-processing plant in Quzhou, a strategic location to utilize Huayou Cobalt’s pre-existing infrastructure.

Once the production starts in late 2024, battery scrap generated from LGES Nanjing facility, as well as waste batteries collected by Huayou Recycling, will be delivered to the JV to produce recycled metals, including nickel, cobalt and lithium, which will be processed and supplied back to the LGES Nanjing plant.

The agreement signing was held at Huayou Cobalt’s Tongxiang headquarters in China.

Reinforce cost-competitiveness

LGES will also reinforce its cost-competitiveness by increasing the amount of retrieved metals through adopting new techniques, as well as cutting back recycling costs.

In addition, by situating both the pre-treatment and post-processing facilities in proximity to its Nanjing plant, LGES will be able to establish more solid closed-loop recycling system in China.

LGES underlines that establishing a closed-loop system of battery manufacturing is a key priority task in realizing its ESG vision. In China, the company has already completed the establishment of recycling system at its Nanjing facility in 2022. Globally, it has secured strategic partnerships with recyclers to establish end-of-life batteries collection system.