LG Energy Solution (LGES) and Toyota Tsusho are establishing a joint venture called Green Metals Battery Innovations for battery recycling in the USA. A pre-processing plant in North Carolina is to be built, and is scheduled to go into operation in 2026.
Toyota and LGES’ Green Metals Battery Innovations is to build a pre-processing plant in North Carolina to recover black mass. The plant aims to have a maximum annual processing capacity of 13,500 tons of scrap, which is the equivalent of more than 40,000 car batteries.
The partners have revealed that the initial stage of the joint venture’s operation will involve LG Energy Solution supplying scrap generated during the production of EV batteries for Toyota Motor.
Generally speaking, the amount of used batteries from electric vehicles that can be recycled is difficult to estimate because it depends on sales and then generally 9-10 years primary use. This can be followed by another 10 years of use in second-life applications such as stationary storage, or – although rarely practised in the West – for low-speed, light electric vehicles, such as mopeds, before the batteries are recycled. However, both battery recyclers and second-life use companies have a more immediate and calculable supply of battery materials from unsold vehicles and production scrap and batteries that are unused because, for example, the technology is superseded before they get used.
“This joint venture will not only help secure a stable supply of key battery materials but also enhance the competitiveness of our recycling business in North America,” said Chang Beom Kang, CSO of LG Energy Solution. “We are fully committed to leading the recycling market through innovative and differentiated technologies.”
The Japanese carmaker and South Korean battery maker are ensuring their battery operations globally can cycle within regional loops. The new joint venture states that the extracted black mass will later undergo a separate post-processing stage to recover raw materials contained within, seeking to “further establish a battery-to-battery closed-loop system where those raw materials are circulated as recycled resources for new battery materials, advancing a true circular economy in the battery supply chain.”
The process described in the plant planned for North Carolina is a preliminary step. Once the black mass is produced from crushed batteries, the process of extracting the valuable elements is the next step. Just like the primary supply chain for batteries, this process is heavily dominated by China and a small handful of other Asian countries, meaning the recycling materials from other regions must get transported around the world again.
In order for the USA – or any other country or region – to have a truly sustainable life cycle, it is important that all of these processes are conducted as locally as possible. This effort is motivated by more than environmental concern. As most readers will be aware, the supply of battery materials is also a matter of national security and reducing dependence on outside players increases the reliability of supply as well as costly and sometimes uncertain transport pathways. With or without government support, there is a strong business case for localising battery lifecycles. Battery recycling efforts in North America have been building for the last few years.
In February this year, Toyota presented new battery recycling technology that the company says reduces CO2 and more effectively extracts valuable elements. In the EU, battery recycling requirements have prompted companies to cast a sharper eye on their use of raw materials across the battery lifecycle chain.
Toyota has been steadily ramping up its recycling capacities and expanding locations around the globe. This includes the USA, where, in 2023, the company announced a partnership with Cirba for battery recycling, following a material supply deal with US recycling firm Redwood Recycling, which was made public a month prior. The two companies started cooperating in 2022. Toyota also launched a series of collaborations and recycling activities with the Chinese battery giant CATL in 2019.
On the other side of the battery life cycle, LGES and Toyota are collaborating on numerous battery production activities. Toyota Motor North America recently announced that it has secured cathode materials from LG Chem for the plant in North Carolina. Deliveries are expected to start in 2025. In addition to the batteries it produces itself, Toyota will also purchase batteries from LGES. From 2025 onwards, LGES will supply battery modules with a total capacity of 20 gigawatt-hours per year, which contain NCMA pouch cells with a high nickel content and will be installed by Toyota in new electric cars manufactured in the USA.
