Korean Dongwha Electrolyte is about to commission its new electrolyte production facility in Hungary in June. The 53,000 tpa plant will also include a recycling line for electrolyte, from which the solvent NMP (N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone) will be recovered to be sold back to the battery manufacturers, Circularenergystorage-online.com reports.
According to Korean media the company is now planning to invest 60 billion Won (54 million USD) in a slightly larger plant in the US, primarily to support SK Innovation‘s battery production in Georgia, which was green-lighted this week after SK Innovation reached an agreement with LG Energy Solution. Most likely this facility will also include a recycling line.
The main purpose with the recycling line is to process production waste and offspec cells from local battery producers (Samsung SDI and SK Innovation in Hungary), but the presence of the company could increase the potential to recover electrolyte also from end-of-life batteries.
The investments are good examples of how Korean battery manufacturers pave the way for other Korean subsuppliers including processors of production scrap such as Sungeel Hitech and Ecopro BM.