SK confirms setting up recycling plants in US and Europe

The Korean battery maker SK Innovation which in October rebranded its battery division to SK On confirmed the 29 October that it will establish and operate recycling plants in China, US and Europe after 2025.

The company has for many years invested in R&D to develop a proprietary technology for lithium recovery.

SK has today strong presence in Georgia in the US and in Hungary in EU, close to some of its core customers such as Kia and Hyundai.

SK recently signed an MOU with Ford on setting up a joint venture branded Blue Oval SK, through which batteries will be produced for the car maker in Tennessee and Kentucky starting 2025. It was also revealed that Redwood Materials will set up a recycling plant close the JV's Tennessee plant as a part of their broader deal with Ford.

Meanwhile the battery recycling startup Battery Resourcers is looking to set up a recycling plant in Georgia, believed to work together with SK. The newly established South Korean recycler Enerma (formely G&S Construction and Engineering) has also been linked with SK's Georgia plant.