In Jeju Island, which has the highest electric vehicle adoption rate in the country, the use of used batteries (waste batteries) has been fully initiated. The number of electric vehicles in Jeju is about 40,000, accounting for 9.8% of all vehicles, significantly higher than the national average adoption rate of 2.6%.
Recently, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province has started to provide agricultural tools, autonomous transfer robots, and small energy storage devices (ESS·Energy Storage System) made from waste batteries to the private sector free of charge. In some areas, solar-powered streetlights utilizing waste batteries have been installed. These products are made from waste batteries that were returned to local governments after being used in electric vehicles and reaching the end of their lifespan.
Jeju has been continuously considering ways to handle waste batteries with domestic automobile manufacturers. Although the adoption of electric vehicles has increased thanks to government subsidies and the expansion of charging infrastructure, there isn’t a suitable method to process the accumulating waste batteries. There are no adequate storage and processing facilities, and due to the risk of explosions, it has been difficult to transport them to the mainland.
In 2019, Jeju Island opened the country’s first electric vehicle battery industrialization center and developed various products using waste batteries. A representative example is the agricultural transport vehicle made from waste batteries that were used in Hyundai’s electric vehicle Ioniq. A small battery for engines using waste batteries from the Kia Ray electric vehicle and solar-powered streetlights utilizing waste batteries from the SM3 electric vehicle have also been developed.
Plans are also being reviewed to safely transport waste batteries to the mainland. Last year, Jeju decided to collaborate with Hyundai GLOVIS to transport waste batteries to the mainland and to establish a recycling system in the medium to long term. Until sufficient recycling facilities are established in Jeju, Hyundai GLOVIS plans to transport the waste batteries to Gimhae, Gyeongnam, using dedicated collection containers.
The lifespan of electric vehicle batteries typically ranges from 7 to 10 years. After this period, performance declines by about 20 to 30%, which can affect the vehicle's driving range and charging speed, making replacement necessary. Since 2013, when electric vehicles were introduced in Jeju, it has been stipulated under the Air Quality Conservation Act that 21,000 electric vehicles registered before 2021 must return their batteries to the local governments.