Pohang City-SK Ecoplant Target Global Market for Battery Recycling

Supporting Global Expansion of Recycling Companies, Operating Open Innovation Platform

Securing Secondary Battery Raw Material Supply Chain through Advanced Battery Recycling Technology

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Pohang City is joining hands with SK Ecoplant to actively take the lead in the global battery recycling market.

EcoBattery Pohang Campus.

Pohang City is establishing the largest domestic battery industry open innovation platform together with SK Ecoplant, a leading company in the environment and energy sectors.

The city plans to collaborate comprehensively with SK Ecoplant to create the largest domestic battery industry ecosystem, from discovering startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to joint technology development, technology commercialization, and investment attraction, while advancing battery recycling technologies.

First, to secure core technologies in the battery recycling field, joint research will be conducted with research institutions such as POSTECH, Seoul National University, major overseas universities, and the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade. Technology development and verification will be carried out in areas feasible for commercialization together with startups and small to medium-sized enterprises in the battery sector.

Additionally, a joint contest will be operated to discover business opportunities in the battery field, and incubation support such as office space, technology development funds, business capital support, and investment will be provided to startups and SMEs.

Alongside this, the city is actively considering operating educational institutions for revitalizing the battery industry and nurturing talent, as well as hosting the largest domestic forum.

To this end, Pohang City and SK Ecoplant will sign a memorandum of understanding soon and proceed with detailed discussions on building an open innovation platform for battery recycling.

SK Ecoplant is focusing on the battery recycling business as a new growth engine and is actively moving to secure a leading position in the global market.

Efforts to dominate the global waste electrical and electronic equipment (E-waste) market continue with the acquisition of TES-AMM, a global E-waste company, and equity investment in Ascend Elements, an innovative U.S. company specializing in spent battery recycling.

Furthermore, through a Hub & Spoke strategy?concentrating volumes from various locations at a central hub and then redistributing them?the company plans to secure waste battery volumes and lead the rapidly growing spent battery recycling market by utilizing know-how related to rare metal extraction and battery raw materials.

Through cooperation with SK Ecoplant, Pohang City expects to secure a stable supply chain of secondary battery raw materials by advancing battery recycling technology, not only to lead the recycling market but also to create new business opportunities through new ventures. This will foster co-growth with companies and serve as a forward base and cradle for unicorn startups targeting the global market in battery recycling ventures and startups.

In 2019, Pohang City and Gyeongbuk Province were designated as the nation’s first ‘Next-Generation Battery Recycling Regulatory Free Zone,’ laying the foundation for activating the spent battery industry. This zone has been recognized as an excellent free zone for four consecutive years, the only one to achieve this. In 2021, to support additional demonstrations and commercialization of spent batteries, a comprehensive secondary battery management center was established in the Blue Valley National Industrial Complex.

Pohang City and Gyeongbuk Province plan to advance the existing battery regulatory free zone to attract a ‘Global Innovation Zone,’ establishing global standards for spent batteries and providing one-stop support for companies’ global expansion. This aims to secure core mineral supply chains and take the lead in the future resource battery recycling market.

The ‘Global Innovation Zone’ will apply comprehensive negative regulation exemptions to support new product development in future technology fields and overseas expansion, including establishing overseas demonstration bases and export-tailored overseas certification support.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok stated, “For a resource-scarce country like ours, securing stable supplies of core minerals and supply chain security are matters of life and death for the battery industry. Through active cooperation with SK Ecoplant and the designation of the Global Innovation Zone, we will build a sustainable supply chain for secondary battery materials and support local companies’ overseas expansion to accelerate our lead in the global battery market.”

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