POSCO Chemical, 'First in Battery Material Industry' to Receive Environmental Product Declaration Certification for Cathode Materials

Transparent Disclosure of Environmental Impact Including Carbon Emissions from Cathode and Anode Materials

Sondonggi, Head of Cathode Materials at POSCO Chemical (left in the photo), and Jonghwan Kim, Head of the Eco-friendly Safety Division at Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute, are holding certificates and posing for a commemorative photo. Photo by POSCO Chemical

POSCO Chemical has officially received environmental performance certification for its cathode materials. By obtaining certification for cathode materials following anode materials in January this year, it has become the first in the battery materials industry to transparently disclose product environmental impact information.

POSCO Chemical announced on the 26th that it has acquired the 'Environmental Performance Label' certification from the Ministry of Environment for cathode materials, a core battery material. The certification ceremony was held the previous day at the cathode materials plant in Gwangyang, attended by related personnel including Donggi Son, Head of Cathode Materials at POSCO Chemical, and Jonghwan Kim, Head of the Eco-friendly Safety Division at the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute.

The Environmental Performance Label is a nationally accredited certification system in which the Ministry of Environment evaluates and labels the environmental impact of a product throughout its entire lifecycle?from raw material extraction to production, use, and disposal. It serves as one of the indicators for customers to choose environmentally friendly products.

POSCO Chemical obtained certification for its 'PN6' and 'PN8' cathode materials. Through this certification, environmental impacts such as carbon footprint, resource footprint, water footprint, ozone layer impact, acid rain, eutrophication, and photochemical smog have been disclosed. PN6 and PN8 are product names for cathode materials manufactured by POSCO Chemical with nickel content of 60% and over 80%, respectively.

The carbon footprint generated when producing 1 kg of POSCO Chemical’s PN8 cathode material is 25.9 kg CO₂. When converted based on a 60 kWh capacity electric vehicle, this equates to approximately 2020 kg CO₂. The carbon footprint is an indicator that converts greenhouse gas emissions generated throughout the entire product process into CO₂ emissions.

A POSCO Chemical representative is inspecting the cathode material production line at the Gwangyang plant. Photo by POSCO Chemical

Through environmental performance certification for both cathode and anode materials, POSCO Chemical has established ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) competitiveness that enables proactive response to global environmental regulations and strengthened environmental management by client companies.

Electric vehicles are eco-friendly mobility solutions, but it has been challenging to prove the environmental friendliness of the product lifecycle, including carbon emissions during production. In response, the European Union (EU), one of the major electric vehicle markets, has mandated battery carbon footprint reporting starting in 2024 and is pushing legislation for a battery passport system, which includes ESG performance and battery manufacturing history data, targeting implementation in 2026, thereby strengthening related environmental regulations.

POSCO Chemical is pursuing various environmental management activities to respond to regulations and achieve carbon neutrality in the battery materials sector by 2035.

Based on the environmental performance label certification for cathode and anode materials, POSCO Chemical plans to pursue low-carbon product certification designated by the Ministry of Environment. Low-carbon products are those that meet the carbon footprint reduction standards set by the Ministry of Environment through process improvements, and certification is only possible for products that have obtained the environmental performance label. Additionally, the company plans to expand the use of renewable energy in material production and increase the purchase rate of eco-friendly certified green products from the current 1.4% to 5% by 2025.

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