Gyeongbuk Province Rises as Secondary Battery Hub, Leading with 'Battery Recycling Special Zone'

Special Zone Designated in July Last Year -> Electric Vehicle Battery Reuse and Comprehensive Management Demonstration in July This Year
Finally Starting Demonstration for Recycling 'Non-Reusable' Batteries on the 30th... "Special Zone Enters Full Oper

The photo shows a bird's-eye view of the 'Secondary Battery Integrated Management Center' that began construction on November 23 at the Pohang Blue Valley National Industrial Complex. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Gyeongsangbuk-do on the 30th launched a demonstration project for recycling 'non-reusable' batteries to establish a foundation for next-generation battery recycling industrialization.

Designated as a battery recycling regulatory free zone in July last year, Gyeongbuk Province is receiving evaluations that it has begun full-scale operations of the special zone project by starting a demonstration project for 'non-reusable' batteries following the 'electric vehicle battery reuse demonstration' and 'battery comprehensive management demonstration' on July 9.

Despite the rapid increase in battery disposal due to the expansion of electric vehicle distribution, there are currently no guidelines or standards for the reuse or recycling of used batteries. This is acting as a major obstacle in the development of battery-related technologies and industrialization processes.

Gyeongbuk Province plans to establish criteria, procedures, and targets for the sale of returned batteries in the 'non-reusable battery recycling demonstration' project launched this time. During the demonstration period, valuable metals will be recovered through battery crushing and pulverizing processes, and if a certain yield is achieved, it will be used as basic data for establishing battery sales standards considering international market prices.

In particular, the government has announced that it will promote amendments to related laws by June 2022 to allow private sales of 'used batteries,' drawing more attention to this demonstration project aimed at securing basic data for sales.

The electric vehicle battery industry is a rapidly growing sector, often called the 'second semiconductor' or 'rice of future industries,' but in Korea, the establishment of a battery industry ecosystem linking 'battery core materials - battery finished products - electric vehicles' remains distant.

Gyeongbuk Province and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups expect that through the battery recycling special zone, institutional arrangements for industrialization will be made and a self-reliant market for secondary battery raw minerals such as nickel, cobalt, and manganese will open.

Ha Dae-seong, Deputy Governor for Economy of Gyeongbuk Province, said, "With the designation of the battery recycling special zone, Gyeongbuk has become a hub city for secondary battery upstream and downstream industry companies, securing follow-up projects from central government ministries," adding, "We will faithfully carry out the goal of the special zone project to establish standards for the use of used batteries and make every effort to attract companies and establish a resource circulation cluster for used electric vehicle batteries."

Meanwhile, even before the demonstration project began, the Gyeongbuk battery recycling regulatory free zone has been generating large-scale investment effects centered on major corporations. In January, President Moon Jae-in personally visited the signing ceremony of a 100 billion KRW investment agreement by GS Construction, a recycling business operator.

Also, the occupancy rate of Blue Valley Industrial Complex, which was only about 1% before the special zone designation, has achieved 200% of the regulatory free zone’s policy goals of creating new industries and revitalizing local industries, as battery material companies such as POSCO Chemical and PM Grow moved in and the first rental sites were completely sold out.

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