SK Innovation developing EV battery recycling technology

SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- SK Innovation Co., a major electric vehicle (EV) battery maker in South Korea, said Tuesday it plans complete the development of a battery recycling technology by the end of this year to beef up its competitiveness in the industry.

SK Innovation said it is working to find solutions to recover lithium hydroxide, a key cathode material, from used lithium-ion batteries, with related technology probably available for commercial use next year.

"It'll be the world's first to recover highly concentrated lithium hydroxide from the used batteries," a company spokesman said.

SK Innovation said more than 80 percent of lithium-ion battery materials can be recycled, and its technology will be able to retrieve key cathode metals like nickel and cobalt in high quality.

"Large fluctuations in the prices of raw battery materials have been a concern," he said. "We think that battery recycling can be a promising business in the future."

SK Innovation was the world's eighth-largest shipper of EV batteries in the first half of the year, with a capacity of 1.6 gigawatt hours, according to data from SNE Research.

kdon@yna.co.kr
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