- The joint venture company Green Metals Battery Innovations will construct a pre-processing facility in North Carolina to extract black mass, a key material for battery recycling
- The new facility objective is to achieve an annual processing capacity of 13,500 tons of scrap, equivalent to over 40,000 automotive batteries
- LG Energy Solution’s first battery recycling JV in North America signifies a strong commitment to collaboration on a closed-loop system and circular economy
Battery recycling-focused Green Metals Battery Innovations, LLC is a joint venture between LG Energy Solution and Toyota Tsusho Corporation. The two parties agreed to build and run a pre-processing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as part of the contract that LG Energy Solution Michigan and Toyota Tsusho America inked.
The new factory will disassemble and shred battery production trash in order to perform pre-processing procedures to recover black matter, which comprises important raw metals like nickel, cobalt, and lithium. The first phase of the joint venture’s operations will see LG Energy Solution provide Toyota Motor with waste produced during the manufacture of EV batteries.
With a goal of processing 13,500 tons of scrap annually, or more than 40,000 car batteries, the plant is expected to start operations in 2026.
To retrieve the raw components stored therein, the removed black mass will thereafter go through a separate post-processing step. In order to promote a real circular economy in the battery supply chain, the joint venture aims to further develop a battery-to-battery closed-loop system in which those raw materials are recycled into new battery materials.
The Toyota Group and LG Energy Solution are working together to reduce carbon emissions by implementing circular economy projects. In order to establish a competitive recycling infrastructure in the area, LG Energy Solution plans to collaborate with a top battery recycler that possesses cutting-edge pre-processing technologies and operating expertise.
“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,” stated Chang Beom Kang, CSO of LG Energy Solution. “We are fully committed to leading the recycling market through innovative and differentiated technologies.”
“We are proud to partner with LG Energy Solution to advance the battery recycling infrastructure in North America,” stated Masaharu Katayama, COO of Toyota Tsusho. “This joint venture is a significant step toward realizing a circular economy for batteries, which is essential for building a sustainable mobility society.”
