Kia, Glovis, and Ecopro establish a public-private cooperation system for waste battery recycling

Kia has established a public-private partnership to create a circulation ecosystem for electric vehicle batteries.

Kia signed a ‘MOU to build an alliance to revitalize the battery ecosystem’ at the ‘2023 International Secondary Battery Forum for Entering the Global Market’ held at the Hilton Hotel in Gyeongju on the 6th.

This business agreement was prepared to create a battery circulation ecosystem throughout the entire recycling process of waste electric vehicle batteries. In the pilot project, Kia will take charge of the pilot project, including the supply of waste batteries, and Hyundai Glovis will review the business feasibility of recycling waste batteries. Eva Cycle is responsible for disassembling and dismantling batteries and manufacturing black powder, while EcoPro is responsible for extracting raw materials and manufacturing cathode materials. Gyeongbuk Provincial Office and Gyeongbuk Techno Park are responsible for improving regulations related to battery recycling and creating an environment for developing new business technologies.

Each company and local government inputs actual waste batteries and carries out the entire process related to battery recycling. Through this, we plan to secure data at all stages of the battery cycle process, from raw material extraction to battery production and installation in electric vehicles, and review the final economic feasibility.

Kia plans to form a battery circulation ecosystem based on the empirical results of the pilot project and take the lead in commercializing ‘BaaS (Battery as a Service)’ such as battery subscription and refurbishment services.

A Kia official said, “If we measure the value of raw materials extracted through the actual battery recycling process through this business agreement and derive results by collecting and analyzing data for each process, it will become a reference point in creating a battery circulation ecosystem in the future.” “Through this project, we will increase the value of batteries and further link with the BaaS business, ultimately contributing greatly to the expansion of electric vehicle adoption.”

Seungyoung Shin sy@autocast.kr