SK Ecoplant, the infrastructure developer affiliated with SK Group, forged a long-term partnership with BMW to recycle used batteries from the auto giant’s electric vehicles, industry sources said Wednesday.
Under the partnership, SK Ecoplant’s European subsidiary, SK TES, will collect battery scrap -- used or faulty batteries -- from BMW's operations across Europe and process them, facilitating the extraction of raw materials for new batteries. The agreement was finalized in November.
It is the first time that SK TES has formed a battery recycling partnership with a global automaker.
Starting in the second half of this year, the battery scrap will be transported to SK TES’ battery disposal plant in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The scrap will be dismantled into a material called “black mass,” from which metals such as cobalt, nickel and lithium can be extracted.
"Partnerships like this increase our efficiency in terms of the circular economy. In the closed-loop process, all partners mutually benefit from their experiences," said BMW's Vice President for Circular Economy Jorg Lederbauer in the company’s announcement of the partnership Monday.
The closed-loop process is a circular system for making and recycling batteries. In the announcement, the BMW executive hinted at the potential expansion of SK cooperation into North America by 2026.
Located in Europe’s largest trade port, the SK TES’ plant can process batteries from up to 40,000 electric vehicles annually, producing as much as 10,000 tons of black mass.
In response to the growing demand for battery recycling across the continent, SK TES is building a new plant to produce black mass near its existing facility in Rotterdam. The company also plans to add mineral extraction facilities to the plants.
Industry insiders believe that the EV battery recycling sector in Europe will continue to grow, despite a 3 percent decline in Europe’s EV market last year. While demand for lithium-ion batteries in the European Union is expected to reach 1.1 terawatt-hours, accounting for 23.4 percent of global demand by 2030, batteries distributed in the region must contain a certain ratio of recycled materials starting in 2031, according to legislation.
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