Olympic Gold Medals Also Mined from Urban Mines... A Visit to SK Ecoplant's US Factory

Subsidiary TES Operates 3,700㎡ Factory in Las Vegas
Recycling from E-Waste to Electric Vehicle Battery Waste
Extracting Gold, Platinum, Rare Earths from IT Devices and Lithium, Nickel from Batteries

Exterior view of Tes, SK ecoplant's recycling specialized subsidiary, Las Vegas plant. Photo by SK ecoplant

Just over 30 minutes south from the heart of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, the Las Vegas factory of TES, a subsidiary of SK ecoplant, came into view. Located in the middle of the Nevada desert, the approximately 3,700㎡ factory was lined with boxes filled with various electronic devices such as servers, laptops, and smartphones. This is a dedicated ITAD (IT Asset Disposition) factory that supports the complete destruction of information from memory and hard disks of laptops, smartphones, and data center equipment, followed by reuse and recycling. This factory is TES's fourth U.S. base, following Seattle, Atlanta, and Fredericksburg.

SK ecoplant has set the vision of realizing a circular economy through waste recycling and energy conversion, and early on recognized the 'urban mine' business as a future core industry. Urban mining is a business that extracts high-value rare metals, which are scarce or concentrated in specific regions, from electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) and used batteries, and recycles them as raw materials. In 2022, SK ecoplant made a bold acquisition of TES, headquartered in Singapore. By acquiring TES, which has the most country bases in the industry with 46 locations across 23 countries, SK ecoplant secured a value chain covering all related business areas.

TES Las Vegas Factory Extracting Gold and Platinum from IT Devices

TES is developing ITAD as a core business alongside electronic device and used battery recycling. The Las Vegas factory mainly processes IT devices centered on servers. The business includes services from collection, transportation, and data deletion, as well as selling refurbished products and parts (such as RAM) after servicing.

At the site, Oh Jong-hoon, TES Chief Strategy Officer (CSO, Vice President), explained, "ITAD includes not only information destruction but also environmentally friendly processing through the recycling and reuse of IT assets afterward," adding, "The ultimate goal of ITAD is to minimize the disposal of IT assets and enable their reuse." Oh also noted, "The metals recovered from IT products include high-value metals such as gold, platinum, and indium (a type of rare earth). For example, the gold and bronze medals used in the 2008 Beijing Olympics contained gold and copper recycled and produced by TES Shanghai."

TES's ITAD capabilities are proven. Protecting personal information and brands requires strict management, and responding to various laws and regulatory environments by country is essential. TES has formed long-term trust relationships with global clients by securing numerous permits and licenses and providing perfect information security services in response to waste regulations. Last year, IT market analysis firm Gartner selected TES as one of the 'Top 3' companies globally capable of providing comprehensive ITAD services, alongside Iron Mountain (USA) and Sims Lifecycle (Australia).

The growth outlook is also bright. The ITAD and e-waste sectors are expected to rebound in line with the recovery of the semiconductor and IT markets. Global market research firm Allied Market Research forecasts that the e-waste industry, which was about $50 billion (approximately 60 trillion KRW) in 2020, will nearly triple to about $144 billion (approximately 170 trillion KRW) by 2028. E-waste refers to waste generated from electronic equipment and parts such as old mobile phones, personal computers (PCs), and televisions.

Crushed IT devices for recycling at Tesla's Las Vegas factory. Photo by SK Ecoplant

Securing Used Battery Recycling Capabilities... Accelerating 'Mining' in Urban Mines

SK ecoplant is considering utilizing the TES Las Vegas factory not only for ITAD but also as an advanced base for used battery recycling in the western North America region. Nevada has recently been spotlighted as a key hub for the electric vehicle and battery industries. It is also a logistics hub for the southwestern United States.

In fact, Nevada is the only place in North America with a mine capable of lithium extraction, one of the core materials for electric vehicle batteries. Battery manufacturers (Panasonic), automakers (Tesla), and the world's largest lithium producer Albemarle are known to be building or planning production plants in Nevada. Specialized used battery recycling companies such as Redwood Materials have also announced plans to enter, and related clusters are actively being formed.

Governor Joe Lombardo of Nevada recently visited the TES Las Vegas factory in person to tour the facility and discuss cooperation. Governor Lombardo reportedly showed great interest in SK ecoplant and TES's ITAD and electric vehicle used battery recycling businesses.

CSO Oh Jong-hoon said, "Nevada has great potential as a site for electric vehicle used battery recycling," adding, "We are also considering ways to create synergy by effectively utilizing the supply chain TES has secured in Nevada, which connects collection, recycling, rare metal extraction, and reproduction."

Another major advantage of TES is securing logistics forward bases, including used battery collection, through its global business sites. TES has accumulated experience and know-how in waste collection, storage, and transportation logistics across 23 countries worldwide. Based on its network capabilities utilizing global bases, TES also holds the authority to collect waste, including used batteries, in more than 20 countries worldwide. According to market research firm SNE Research, the used battery recycling market is expected to grow rapidly to $174.12 billion (approximately 228 trillion KRW) by 2040.

CSO Oh emphasized, "In terms of used battery recycling, SK ecoplant and TES are evaluated as having all the core elements for market leadership, the 3Ls (Logistics, Location, License). Recently, we have also completed technological capabilities, achieving a 97% recovery rate and 99.9% purity for nickel and cobalt using solvent extraction methods, preparing to target the global market."

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