"Pohang, the Core Hub of Secondary Battery Circular Economy!" ... Vice Minister of Environment Visits Pohang

Im Sang-jun Vice Minister Emphasizes Recycling of Used Batteries at Pohang Blue Valley Industrial Complex

Future National Strategic Industry Field Meeting, Review of Secondary Battery Industry Ecosystem Status

Pohang City to Collaborate with

On the 29th, Lim Sang-jun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Environment, attended the Future National Strategic Industry Field Meeting held in Pohang to review the current status of the secondary battery industry ecosystem.

Jang Sang-gil, Vice Mayor of Pohang City (fourth from the left), Lim Sang-jun, Vice Minister of Environment (fifth), and Kim Jun-hyung, President of POSCO Future M (sixth), are taking a commemorative photo in front of POSCO Future M on the 29th.

Vice Minister Lim visited the ‘Pohang Blue Valley Industrial Complex’ located in Nam-gu, Pohang, toured POSCO Future M’s only domestic artificial graphite anode material production facility and process, and then visited the electric vehicle battery resource circulation cluster site and the secondary battery comprehensive management center.

At the meeting, detailed plans were discussed on how to gradually supply water to meet the expected significant increase in water demand following the designation of the Pohang Blue Valley Industrial Complex as a national advanced strategic industry specialized complex for secondary batteries in July last year.

Jang Sang-gil, Deputy Mayor of Pohang City, who attended the meeting, said, “Pohang has been leading the establishment of the electric vehicle battery resource circulation industry base, starting with the recycling regulatory free zone. We will join forces with the Ministry of Environment and Gyeongbuk Province to practice a low-carbon economy and lead innovation in the circular economy.”

Additionally, Deputy Mayor Jang requested active support from the Ministry of Environment, including water supply, to leap forward as a global production hub for secondary battery materials.

Vice Minister Lim emphasized, “Since secondary batteries are a national advanced strategic industry and a core field of the circular economy, we will actively support the secondary battery industry and contribute to securing the supply chain of key mineral resources through the recycling of used batteries.”

The city began construction of the ‘Electric Vehicle Battery Resource Circulation Cluster’ in December last year to establish a circular economy base for electric vehicle batteries, with completion scheduled for 2025.

Pohang City expects that once the cluster is established, it will play a key role in achieving carbon neutrality in the electric vehicle battery industry and significantly contribute to the growth of the battery-related upstream and downstream industries as a new growth model.