On the 19th, LG Energy Solution announced it is partnering with Toyota Tsusho Corp., a trading company of the Toyota Group in Japan, to establish a battery recycling joint venture called 'GMBI (Green Metals Battery Innovations, LLC)' in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The new joint venture GMBI is a specialized pre-processing facility that safely pulverizes and crushes used batteries and process scrap generated during battery manufacturing to produce 'Black Mass.' The produced Black Mass will be extracted into lithium, cobalt, and nickel through a separate post-processing process, which will then be recycled into electric vehicle batteries for Toyota vehicles after undergoing cathode material and battery manufacturing processes. The annual processing capacity is a maximum of 13,500 tons, capable of handling used batteries and scrap from more than 40,000 electric vehicles each year. Construction of the plant is expected to start in the second half of this year, with full operations beginning in 2026.
Prior to the establishment of this joint venture, LG Energy Solution has been accelerating efforts to expand its global recycling business, including the announcement in April of a battery recycling joint venture with France's leading metal recycling company Derichbourg (DBG) in the Val-d'Oise region, with an annual capacity of 20,000 tons.
Kim Changbeom, Chief Strategy Officer of LG Energy Solution, said, "Through the establishment of GMBI, we have secured a stable supply chain of key battery materials while enhancing our competitiveness in the North American recycling market. We will lead the North American recycling market based on our differentiated technological capabilities and customer value capabilities."
Masaharu Katayama, Chief Operating Officer of Toyota Tsusho, noted, "I am very pleased that we are expanding the recycling infrastructure for batteries in North America together with LG Energy Solution. This joint venture will be an important advancement toward realizing a circular economy for building a sustainable mobility society."