Battery Recycling Business Agreement Ceremony Held
Gyeongbuk Province held the '2023 International Secondary Battery Forum' on the 6th at the Gyeongju Hilton Hotel, attended by over 300 participants including representatives from Gyeongbuk Province, Gyeongju City, Pohang City, and industry-academia-research-government institutions in the Gyeongbuk region.
Notably, as a pre-event to this forum, a business agreement ceremony for the 'Alliance for Revitalizing the Battery Ecosystem' was held among Kia, EcoPro, Hyundai Glovis, EvaCycle, Gyeongbuk Province, and Gyeongbuk TP.
The Battery Recycling Alliance is the first public-private cooperation in Korea to establish a collaborative system across the entire industry, from secondary battery raw materials to finished vehicles, and plans to promote a pilot project for electric vehicle battery recycling.
Kia is responsible for overall management of the battery recycling business and supply of used batteries; EvaCycle handles battery disassembly/dismantling and manufacturing of Black Powder (BP); EcoPro is in charge of cathode material manufacturing from BP post-processing; Hyundai Glovis reviews the business feasibility of used battery recycling; and Gyeongbuk Province and Gyeongbuk TP are responsible for regulatory improvements related to battery recycling and cooperation in new business technology development. This division of roles aims to establish a circular battery ecosystem.
A Kia official stated, "Through this pilot project, if we measure the value of raw materials extracted through actual recycling processes, collect and analyze data for each process, and derive results, these will serve as benchmarks for establishing a circular battery ecosystem," expressing expectations for the upcoming pilot project.
Following the MOU, the 2023 International Secondary Battery Forum proceeded with a keynote speech by Dr. Burkhardt Holter, CEO of Germany's VDE.
Founded in 1893, VDE (Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker, German Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies) is a leading European institution for safety testing and certification of electrical, electronic products, and various consumer goods.
CEO Holter delivered a keynote titled 'Global Energy Storage Market and Challenges,' explaining global secondary battery market trends and challenges for domestic companies entering the European market.
In the subsequent presentations, Park Tae-sung, Executive Vice President of the Korea Battery Industry Association, presented on 'Global Secondary Battery Industry Outlook,' proposing ways to strengthen competitiveness and development of the secondary battery industry. Lee Jung-doo, Secondary Battery PD at the Korea Institute for Industrial Technology Evaluation and Planning, explained government policy directions and next-generation secondary battery technology development trends in 'Battery Industry Trends, Technology Development, and Policy Directions.'
During the panel discussion, chaired by Lee Young-joo, Head of the Secondary Battery Comprehensive Management Center at Gyeongbuk Technopark, spirited discussions were held on fostering Gyeongbuk's secondary battery industry cluster and strengthening competitiveness for global market entry of local secondary battery companies. Panelists included Yoon Seung-gyu, Domestic eBiz Solutions Executive Director at Kia; Jung Hae-rim, Head of Management Strategy at EcoPro; Lee Jung-doo, Secondary Battery PD at the Korea Institute for Industrial Technology Evaluation and Planning; and Park Jae-beom, Senior Researcher at POSCO Research Institute.
The forum also provided an opportunity to share the development direction and strategies for the secondary battery industry in Gyeongbuk Province following the designation of the Gyeongbuk Secondary Battery Advanced Industry Specialized Complex.
Through this, stakeholders agreed on expanding the already established battery raw materials, materials, and recycling industrial ecosystem centered in Pohang to the entire Gyeongbuk region, aiming to build a Gyeongbuk secondary battery industrial ecosystem based on the characteristics and strengths of each city and county in the province, thereby securing a foothold for global market entry.
Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, said, "Secondary batteries are an advanced strategic industry fiercely competed over by major countries worldwide, including the U.S. and China, to dominate the global market," adding, "Gyeongbuk is doing its utmost to foster a global super-gap secondary battery industry. With the power of Gyeongbuk, we will provide unwavering support to make Korea the world's strongest secondary battery nation by 2030."
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