Ecopro to Build Used Battery Recycling Plant in Hungary with SK Ecoplant

Song Hojun, CEO of Ecopro (center), Park Kyungil, President of SK Ecoplant (left), and Terence Ng Tes, Chairman, signed a business agreement on the 16th for 'Hungary Battery Recycling Business Cooperation.' Photo by Ecopro

EcoPro has officially entered the European waste battery recycling market by partnering with SK Ecoplant and TES, a company specializing in electric and electronic waste, to establish a waste battery recycling plant in Hungary.

EcoPro announced on the 19th that, together with SK Ecoplant and TES, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 'Battery Recycling Business Cooperation in Hungary' on the 16th at SK Ecoplant’s headquarters in Susong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

According to the agreement, the three companies have designated Hungary, the hub of the European battery manufacturing industry, as the cooperation region for the waste battery recycling business and plan to establish a waste battery recycling plant aiming for completion in 2025. The success of the waste battery recycling business depends on the stable supply of feedstock for recycling.

As of last year, Hungary ranked as the world’s fourth-largest battery producer after China, Poland, and the United States. With ongoing investments from domestic and international battery-related companies and electric vehicle manufacturers, Hungary is emerging as the center of the electric vehicle and battery industry in Europe. Hungary’s battery production volume is expected to grow more than sevenfold by 2030 compared to 2022. All three German premium automobile manufacturers (Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi) operate factories in Hungary, and recently, three Chinese battery companies (CATL, Eve Power, Sunwoda) also announced their entry into Hungary. Domestically, Samsung SDI and SK On have also expanded into the country.

The three companies plan to secure raw materials for recycling, such as waste batteries and scrap (defective products generated during battery manufacturing processes), stably in Hungary. Based on EcoPro’s waste battery recycling material technology and the global networks of SK Ecoplant and TES, they intend to secure supply volumes targeting domestic and international electric vehicle and battery manufacturers based in Hungary and other European regions.

They will establish a closed-loop system locally in Hungary that reinserts rare metals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel recovered from waste batteries back into battery manufacturing, thereby contributing to the realization of a circular economy. EcoPro is leading the battery recycling industry with its technology centered on a wet process that achieves a high lithium recovery rate. Synergy is also expected with EcoPro’s Debrecen anode material plant in Hungary, which is scheduled to begin mass production in the second half of 2024.

EcoPro’s first overseas production base, the anode material plant in Hungary, is expected to have an annual production capacity of 108,000 tons. They are also pursuing expansion into North America, including Canada, which opens up additional business cooperation opportunities with SK Ecoplant and TES, who have established a North American base. SK Ecoplant and its subsidiary TES have secured global bases in 50 locations across 23 countries, establishing logistics forward bases including waste battery collection. The waste battery recycling plants under construction in Rotterdam, the Netherlands?one of Europe’s largest ports?and Yancheng, a key hub of China’s battery industry, are also nearing completion.

Another major advantage is that they have secured the authority to collect waste batteries from major countries worldwide. Under the Basel Convention, permission is required to send waste batteries collected globally to recycling facilities in other countries, and TES has already obtained Basel permits from over 30 countries.

Song Hojun, CEO of EcoPro, said, "We expect to lead the global battery recycling industry by combining EcoPro’s competitive recycled material technology with the recycling business technology and global networks of SK Ecoplant and TES, creating synergy."

Park Kyung-il, President of SK Ecoplant, stated, "Hungary, where global electric vehicle and battery manufacturers’ production bases are concentrated, is a strategic stronghold in the waste battery recycling market. Through cooperation with EcoPro and its subsidiary TES, we plan to accelerate the market capture of waste battery recycling in Europe, starting with Hungary, and secure global leadership."

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