JEJU-DO < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

A pilot project to recycle waste batteries will be run in Jeju, which is called the "Island of Electric Vehicles."

On December 18, the Ministry of Environment, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, and SFECO announced that they will sign an MOU on the following day to implement the pilot project to crush waste batteries from EVs produced in Jeju and turn them into black powder.

Black powder, produced by breaking and crushing battery packs, contains useful substances such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt that can be extracted and reused.

Jeju, equipped with well-developed EV infrastructure, has 35,619 registered EVs at the end of May this year, accounting for 5.1% of all cars combined, which is the highest proportion of EVs among 17 cities and provinces.

However, there has been was no way to deal with waste batteries of EVs.

In Jeju, there is no company that recycles waste batteries of EVs. In addition, moving them to land was also not so desirable due to the risk of explosion or fire on the move.

As a result, waste batteries have been stacked up in Jeju Techno Park. As of September, 281 waste batteries were stored there.

The Ministry of Environment and Jeju government have pushed for the pilot project, assuming that waste batteries can be turned into black powder, then moved to land where extraction of lithium or cobalt can be carried out.

This project will be carried out by freezing battery electrolytes at temperatures below minus 50 degrees Celsius with liquefied nitrogen and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and then crushing them to produce black powder.

jylee24@yna.co.kr

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Source: Yonhap News (December 18, 2023)