Capture the 600 Trillion Won Used Battery Market... Introduction of Recycled Material Usage Target System

Used Battery Market Expected to Reach 600 Trillion Won by 2050
'Recycled Material' Usage Targets Set for Manufactured and Imported Batteries
System to Begin as Recommendation, with Mandatory Measures Under Consideration
Recycled Material Certification System to Launch in 2027

Rare metal LiB Flake extracted from waste batteries. Photo unrelated to the article content.

The government will introduce a "recycled material usage target system" to secure a leading position in the used battery market. The policy aims to revitalize the relevant industry by encouraging the use of a certain amount or more of recycled materials in batteries produced or imported domestically. Initially, the system will be implemented in the form of recommendations with incentives for batteries using recycled materials, but the government is also considering making it mandatory depending on market conditions and international trends.

On May 14, the Ministry of Environment announced its "Plan to Promote Battery Circulation and Utilization" at a meeting of economic and industrial ministers held at the Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul. The plan includes the recycled material usage target system. Since recycled materials are more expensive than natural minerals, they are rarely used in battery manufacturing. The core of the policy is to expand the use of recycled materials through incentives.

The used battery market is expected to grow from 70 trillion won in 2030 to 600 trillion won in 2050. Recently, due to changes in U.S. tariff policy and geopolitical tensions, the trade environment has become uncertain, and securing domestic supply chains is now considered essential. In Korea, the majority of key battery materials such as lithium carbonate (76%), cobalt oxide (76%), and manganese (92%) are dependent on specific countries. The government believes it is necessary to develop competitiveness in industries that extract and recycle materials from waste batteries to resolve this issue.

However, in the initial stage, the system will be implemented as a recommendation, not as a mandate. Bae Jeonghan, Deputy Director of the Secondary Battery Circulation Support Group, explained, "First, we will establish a legal basis for the used battery law and separately determine the timing and target rate for introducing the recycled material usage target system, taking into account international trends and domestic readiness," adding, "We will consider making it mandatory in the future."

To ensure the smooth implementation of the system, a recycled material certification system will be launched in 2027. Various valuable metals can be recovered from discarded batteries or defective products (scrap) generated during the manufacturing process, and these will be certified as recycled materials. Companies will be officially recognized for whether they have used recycled materials in their batteries and for the content of each material. This will allow them to respond to global regulations and receive incentives under the recycled material usage target system.

Measures to secure recyclable resources have also been announced. Currently, the industry faces difficulties in securing a supply of waste batteries needed for extraction, even if there is a desire to use recycled materials. To address this, the Ministry of Environment will expand the "Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)" system, which currently covers only 50 items, to all electrical and electronic products next year. The plan is to increase battery collection rates by imposing product collection and recycling obligations on manufacturers and importers.

For lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are increasingly being distributed but are difficult to recycle, the government will support appropriate disposal. LFP batteries are inexpensive, but the value of recoverable metals during recycling is low, making recycling challenging. To address this, a dedicated demonstration center for related technology development will be established by 2026.

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