Increasing 'Portable Charging Battery' Waste: Pilot Project for Separate Disposal and Recycling

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] A pilot project to recycle rechargeable auxiliary batteries, which have been simply discarded until now, will be conducted.

The Ministry of Environment announced on the 6th that, considering the increasing trend in the amount of waste from rechargeable auxiliary batteries (lithium-based secondary batteries), it will promote a recycling pilot project with 10 local governments including Changwon City and Cheongju City. Secondary batteries refer to rechargeable batteries that can be used repeatedly through charging technology, unlike primary batteries which are used once and discarded.

This four-month pilot project will involve local governments along with the Korea Environment Corporation, Korea Battery Recycling Association, and secondary battery recycling industry.

Until now, rechargeable auxiliary batteries have mostly been simply discarded or only partially recycled because the producer's obligation for collection and recycling, recycling methods, and standards were not specified by law.

Rechargeable auxiliary batteries often appear like plastic externally and are mistakenly thrown into plastic recycling bins, and shocks during transportation can cause fire accidents.

According to research by the Environment Corporation, the amount of lithium-based secondary battery waste is estimated to gradually increase from 817 tons in 2020 to 874 tons in 2025 and 913 tons in 2030.

Lithium-based secondary battery waste contains valuable metals such as silver and lithium. If an appropriate collection system is established, the amount recycled (106 tons in 2020 → 402 tons in 2030) and the recycling rate (13% → 44% during the same period) are expected to increase.

The pilot project method is as follows. First, residents in the target areas will dispose of rechargeable auxiliary batteries together with existing waste batteries in separate collection bins. Then, collection companies in each local government will transport waste batteries and rechargeable auxiliary batteries to collection centers for primary sorting and storage.

Waste batteries stored at the collection centers will be regularly collected by regional collection through the Korea Battery Recycling Association or directly by recycling companies according to the volume received in each region.

Secondary battery recycling companies will perform secondary sorting of rechargeable auxiliary batteries separately from the current producer responsibility recycling system (EPR) target items and recycle them.

The Ministry of Environment plans to use the pilot project to promote the correct separation and disposal methods for rechargeable auxiliary batteries and utilize the results to improve collection and recycling systems.

Lee Young-gi, Director of Resource Circulation Policy at the Ministry of Environment, said, "By systemically organizing the collection and recycling system for rechargeable auxiliary batteries, we can take a step closer to realizing a sustainable circular economy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.