[Photo provided by SK ecoplant]

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South Korea’s SK ecoplant – the eco-friendly solution unit of SK Group - is making a foray into the European market on waste battery recycling with China’s CNGR Advanced Material amid growing demand for battery recycling in line with fast migration to electrification in transportation.

SK ecoplant announced on Thursday that it signed a confidentiality agreement (CA) with the leading Chinese maker of new energy materials for lithium batteries “collaborate on recycling and supplying materials for a circular battery economy.”

The deal was signed between SK ecoplant CEO Park Kyung-Il and CNGR Vice President Tony Tao.

SK ecoplant has been busy on battery waste front, buying a 100 percent stake in Singapore-based electronics waste management solution provider TES for $1 billion in February and making a $50 million strategic investment in U.S. based EV battery recycling materials company Ascend Elements earlier this month.

CNGR, founded in 2014, produces lithium-ion battery cathode precursors which determine battery performance and currently has the largest market share - 22 percent - of the global precursor market as of the first half of the year.

“The collaboration with CNGR will become the foundation for establishing a circular economy in the battery ecosystem,” said Park. We will use TES’s global recycling network and CNGR’s recycling and battery materials capacity to create synergy.

SK ecoplant and CNGR will work together on various projects including recycling waste batteries and increasing the supply of key battery materials such as nickel and cobalt.

CNGR will also leverage its participation in the Europe Battery Alliance for the two companies’ entry into the European market to find new business opportunities. The two companies aim to establish a closed-loop battery recycling system - where discarded batteries are disassembled to recycle core materials for reuse - and a solid foundation for a high-value-added end-of-life battery processing business.

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