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Hyundai Globis / Jeju Island Cooperates with Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Business

2024/06

Cooperation with Jeju Island to Recycle Electric Vehicle Batteries

Plans to operate a battery pretreatment facility on Jeju Island

Hyundai Globis will establish a battery management system for used electric vehicles on Jeju Island. The company will foster a full-cycle industry from recovery to recycling of used batteries in Jeju and participate in the creation of a circular economy.

Hyundai Globis announced that it has signed an MOU with Jeju Island and Jeju Technopark (TP) to revitalize the electric vehicle used battery industry. Under the agreement, Hyundai Globis will commercialize the recycling and reuse of used batteries generated by electric vehicles on Jeju Island and discover win-win solutions for the local industry.

First of all, the company will promote the transportation of batteries to be returned. According to Article 58 (Low Emission Vehicles, etc.) of the Air Environment Conservation Act (Article 5), owners who received government subsidies when purchasing an electric vehicle must return the vehicle's battery to the local government when the vehicle's registration expires.

In Jeju Island, 21,000 EVs registered before the end of December 2020 are subject to battery return, and some of the returned batteries are being stored at Jeju TP. The number is expected to increase further in the future, and the battery recycling infrastructure needs to be expanded.

Until the battery recycling infrastructure on Jeju Island is expanded, Hyundai Globis is transporting the batteries to the mainland by loading them into a special collection container for used EV batteries developed by Hyundai Globis and transporting them on board an operating ship. The collection vessel is made to hold batteries in multiple layers so that they can be transported all at once, improving efficiency and safety.

The transferred batteries undergo pretreatment at Hyundai Globis' recycling centers in Gimhae, Gyeongnam, etc. Pretreatment is a process that physically discharges and dismantles the remaining power in used batteries, removes impurities, and makes black powder, a separation of the anode material.

Hyundai Globis secured the pretreatment technology and facilities earlier this year when it invested a stake in battery recycling specialist AL. The company has patents on the technology and facilities for treating waste lithium-ion batteries with a low-temperature vacuum system. It also has an eco-friendly process technology that recovers electrolyte without generating wastewater and carbon dioxide during the pretreatment process.

Accordingly, Hyundai Globis is planning to introduce the first pre-treatment facility for used batteries in Jeju Island. Once the facility is introduced, used batteries generated in Jeju Island can be recycled in Jeju Island.

In addition, the company plans to operate a battery logistics center at Jeju TP and introduce a management system to junkyards in Jeju. The system will be applied to 11 junkyards on Jeju Island to monitor in real time the volume of used batteries coming into the island's 11 junkyards and the distribution of vehicles needed to collect them.

In addition, Jeju Island plans to create an energy storage device (UBESS) from the amount of used batteries that can be reused and utilize it for local solar or wind power generation equipment or electric vehicle chargers.

Jeju Island will provide administrative and policy support to revitalize the used battery recycling and reuse industry, which is being promoted with Hyundai Globis, while Jeju TP will be

responsible for strengthening test and evaluation capabilities and operating the industry management system.

“We will work closely with Hyundai Globis and Jeju TP to make Jeju a center for the electric vehicle spent battery industry,” the Jeju Island government said.

“In the spent battery recycling business, we have strengthened our competitiveness by having a unified system from recovery to pretreatment,” said Hyundai Globis, adding, ”Based on this, we will contribute to the revitalization of the EV spent battery industry in Jeju.”