[Report] "From Lithium to Graphite and Manganese, Nothing Is Wasted"... Visiting Seongil Hi-Tech Battery Recycling Plant

Early June Completion of the 3rd Hydro Center
World's Largest Wet Post-Processing Production Facility
Sales of Byproducts Including Graphite, Mangcho, and Waste Batteries

Seongil Hi-Tech 3rd Hydro Center exterior view. Photo by Seongil Hi-Tech

On the morning of the 27th of last month, at Seongil High-Tech's 3rd Hydro Center located in the Saemangeum Industrial Complex in Gunsan, Jeonbuk, the factory that held its completion ceremony on the 4th of the same month is the world's largest lithium-ion battery recycling production base. It can process 40,000 tons of black powder (the powder used as raw material for battery recycling) annually. Currently, the first phase production facility is in place, capable of processing half of that amount, 20,000 tons.

The 3rd Hydro Center is a factory that post-processes used batteries using a wet method. Battery recycling facilities are divided into pre-processing and post-processing. Seongil High-Tech calls the pre-processing plant the Recycling Park and the post-processing plant the Hydro Center. Pre-processing is the process of disassembling waste batteries and turning them into black powder. Post-processing is the process of chemically treating the black powder to extract valuable metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese.

Post-processing is further divided into dry and wet methods, and Seongil High-Tech recycles batteries using the wet method. The wet method first dissolves the black powder in a solvent, then adds substances that react with each metal to selectively extract the desired metals.

The Seongil High-Tech 3rd factory visited that day boasted a grand exterior with three times the production capacity compared to the existing 1st and 2nd factories. The building's total floor area reaches 63,326㎡ (about 20,000 pyeong) on a site of 97,622㎡ (about 30,000 pyeong).

Before touring the factory, the first task was to attach security stickers to smartphone cameras to prevent any photography. "Every step of the process is a secret that must not be exposed to competitors," they said.

Main gate of Sungil High-Tech 3rd Hydro Center in Saemangeum, Jeonbuk, Korea. Photo by Kang Hee-jong

The wet post-processing begins in the leaching building. On one side of the leaching building, black powder was lined up in large ton bags (each capable of holding about one ton). This black powder comes from Seongil High-Tech's pre-processing plants worldwide. Seongil High-Tech operates pre-processing plants in Korea, Hungary, Poland, China, India, and Malaysia. The black powder produced worldwide undergoes post-processing here at Saemangeum plants 1, 2, and 3.

The black powder is transferred through a massive silo to the leaching building. In the leaching building, the black powder is dissolved in sulfuric acid solution inside a large green cylinder, then impurities such as graphite, copper, and iron are separated first through a filter press process. A company official explained, "Graphite and electrolytic copper are separately refined and sold."

The remaining solution containing lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese is moved via pipes to the adjacent solvent extraction building. Here, extraction agents are used to separate the target metals in the order of cobalt, nickel, and manganese. The principle used is that when the extraction agent is added, substances with different densities separate like oil and water.

These metals undergo a crystallization process and are sold as solid powders in the form of nickel sulfate, cobalt sulfate, and manganese sulfate products. Lithium is extracted last in the form of lithium carbonate through a separate process.

Battery raw materials produced through recycling. Photo by Seongil Hightech

At the 3rd Hydro Center, based on the first phase, approximately 3,500 tons of lithium carbonate, 5,280 tons of nickel, 600 tons of cobalt, 600 tons of manganese, and 540 tons of copper can be produced annually. These products are sold to domestic and international precursor companies. Precursors refer to raw materials for cathode active materials. Major customers include Ecopro, POSCO Future M, Umicore, and CNGR.

A company official said, "It takes about two weeks from the first black powder input to the production of the final product," adding, "Process operation is expected to stabilize from September." Seongil High-Tech plans to expand to the second phase in the second half of 2026 when raw material supply increases.

The 3rd Hydro Center is particularly notable for establishing a zero-liquid discharge system. Sodium sulfate (NaSO4) wastewater is generated during the battery recycling process, and discharging it in large quantities into the sea could cause environmental pollution.

Seongil High-Tech evaporates and concentrates the wastewater to produce sodium sulfate lumps called "Mangcho," which are sold where needed. Building this facility alone cost 30 billion KRW, and operating expenses exceed 20 billion KRW annually. This facility prioritizes environmental considerations over profitability.

Unlike the 3rd factory, which only has post-processing, the existing 1st and 2nd factories also have pre-processing facilities. During a visit to the 2nd factory that day, battery packs for energy storage systems (ESS) made by Samsung SDI were waiting to be dismantled.

Used batteries are first discharged for safety. Then, the pack and case are manually separated using cutters. The cases and various wires that housed the batteries are sold as by-products. Battery cells move via conveyor belts to a primary crusher. A company official explained, "The powder from the first crushing is dried to separate electrolyte and binder components, then goes through a secondary crushing process. The recovered electrolyte is sold separately."

After the secondary crusher, the fine powder form of black powder is collected in large bags. At this stage, copper and aluminum used as electrode plates are separated separately.