Pohang City Partners with Ministry of Environment and Gyeongbuk Province to Foster Battery Recycling Industry

Business Agreement Signed to Establish System
Fostering a Core National Green Industry

Pohang City is joining forces with the Ministry of Environment and Gyeongbuk Province to actively foster the battery circular economy industry.

On the 7th, a business agreement was signed at the Secondary Battery Integrated Management Center with Pohang Mayor Lee Kangdeok, Minister of Environment Kim Wanseop, and Gyeongbuk Vice Governor Kim Hakhong in attendance, aiming to establish a battery circular utilization system.

Mayor Kangdeok Lee of Pohang, Minister Wanseop Kim of the Ministry of Environment, and Deputy Governor Hakhong Kim of Gyeongbuk Province attended and signed a business agreement to establish a battery recycling system. Provided by Pohang City

Through this agreement, Pohang City, the Ministry of Environment, and Gyeongbuk Province agreed to strengthen mutual cooperation to nurture the battery circular economy industry as a core national green industry.

In particular, to vitalize the battery recycled materials market and stabilize the supply chain of critical minerals, central and local governments will collaborate to establish a cooperative framework for developing recycling technologies for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are difficult to recycle despite their rapidly increasing adoption.

After the agreement, participants held a meeting with representatives from local battery recycling companies such as Ecopro, Energy Materials, and PM Grow, listened to their difficulties, and discussed ways to cooperate.

Companies attending the meeting requested the government to establish systems and ease regulations to vitalize the used battery industry, and called for continued attention to promote related industries.

Minister Kim Wanseop emphasized, "Recycling used batteries is a future core strategic industry that can achieve carbon neutrality and sustainable economic growth. We will continue to communicate with local governments and companies to quickly resolve on-site difficulties and provide multifaceted support so that Korea can lead the global battery circular economy industry."

After the meeting, Minister Kim Wanseop, Mayor Lee Kangdeok, and others visited the Battery Resource Circulation Cluster, scheduled for completion this June in the Blue Valley National Industrial Complex, to review progress and agreed to strengthen cooperation for the cluster's activation after completion.

The Battery Resource Circulation Cluster aims to respond to global regulations in the battery industry and stabilize the supply chain of key raw materials by establishing a research support complex and a business cluster. It will carry out national-level tasks such as establishing electric vehicle battery resource circulation plans, supporting technology development, evaluating battery performance and safety, and managing the resource circulation system.

Mayor Lee Kangdeok stated, "Starting with the battery recycling regulatory free zone, Pohang has been leading the establishment of the used battery circular economy industry base. We will continue to actively cooperate with the Ministry of Environment and Gyeongbuk Province in developing LFP battery recycling technologies and take the lead in activating the battery circular economy."

Prior to the business agreement, Mayor Lee explained Pohang's current status as an emerging hub for battery circular utilization to Minister Kim Wanseop during a luncheon meeting and requested national-level infrastructure support to foster the city as a green industry growth base.