By Greg Gao

LG Energy Solution, a South Korean EV battery giant, said on July 26 that it has signed a joint venture agreement with Chinese lithium battery materials provider Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt (浙江华友钴业) to build a lithium battery recycling plant in China to secure raw materials for lithium battery.

The joint venture deal will commit the two companies to build two factories to extract nickel, cobalt, and lithium, and other key materials for lithium batteries used in EVs, from scrap batteries and used batteries, the South Korean battery maker said in a press release.

The pre-treatment plant that processes scrap batteries will be built in LG Energy Solution’s production facility in Nanjing, eastern China’s Jiangsu Province.

The post-processing plant that processes recycled metal is to be established in Quzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, where Huayou has its operations, reported South Korean media Yonhap News Agency.

The two companies plan to work out terms and other details in the agreement and will launch the joint venture company by the end of this year, said LG Energy Solution.