Taiwan's lithium battery industry has been developing for many years. In response to the demand for batteries for vehicle electrification and renewable energy storage, it is estimated that the amount of waste secondary lithium batteries in Taiwan will exceed 1,000 tons in 2025. Relevant industry players established the "Taiwan Lithium Battery Resource Industry Association" today (10th), connecting the upstream and downstream supply chains for the first time to build a recycling system to allow the sustainable use of waste batteries.
Lithium batteries are widely used, and the industry is interconnected to create a circular economy.
In response to the climate crisis, countries around the world are promoting carbon reduction efforts and striving for net zero emissions. Under the wave of energy transformation, electric vehicles and renewable energy have become one of the mainstream development projects. Lithium battery manufacturers today (10) established the "Taiwan Lithium Battery Resource Industry Association". The association pointed out that whether it is power batteries, wind power, solar power, etc., they all require the cooperation of energy storage systems. Lithium batteries are the most widely used today and play a key role in low-carbon development.
Taiwan's lithium battery industry has been developing for many years. In addition to having accumulated considerable technology and experience, it also has a complete supply chain system. For the first time, the industry has connected the upstream, midstream and downstream lithium battery recycling industry chain to establish the "Taiwan Lithium Battery Resource Industry Association", inviting related companies such as battery materials, manufacturing, assembly, application and resource utilization to participate in the event. Currently, there are 30 companies participating, with a total of 100 members.
According to a report by Central News Agency, Chen Yijie, vice chairman of Mingren Resources and the first chairman of the board, expressed his hope that through the establishment of the association, domestic cooperation and exchanges between industry, academia and research will be promoted, a circular economy system for lithium battery resources will be established, domestic recycled materials and batteries will be sustainably recycled, industrial development and competitiveness will be enhanced, and Taiwan will be built into a clean island for the effective recycling of lithium battery resources.
By 2050, discarded lithium batteries will exceed 1,000 tons; recycling is key
With the development of the electric vehicle market, the cumulative total of electric vehicles reached 8,000 last year (2022), and sales of electric scooters reached 500,000. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Taiwan's waste of secondary lithium batteries will reach 2,020 metric tons by 2025. Currently, Taiwan has six processing plants with a processing capacity of approximately 3,600 metric tons annually. Lithium batteries contain valuable metal resources such as cobalt, lithium, nickel, manganese, and copper. How to reuse these critical metal resources and retain them domestically is crucial.
Recycling first requires extracting the metals. The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) recently released research results demonstrating the high-value recycling of retired lithium battery valuable metal resources. The research team successfully separated, purified, and extracted cathode precursor raw materials, achieving an overall cobalt recovery rate exceeding 98%. Next, a high-temperature thermal reduction process is used to convert the recycled material into cobalt oxide, with a cobalt content exceeding 71.06% by weight and impurities below 300 ppm, meeting industrial-grade raw material specifications. The cobalt oxide can then be used as a raw material in batteries and chemicals, returning to lithium battery manufacturing.
ITRI states that this technology can separate and purify relatively low-cost mixed positive and negative electrode powders into high-value cobalt oxide, increasing the price per kilogram by more than tenfold. Other metals can also be extracted through the process, further aligning with overall economic efficiency and recycling concepts. The technology is also expected to help domestic legal processing companies improve their technology.
Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/236266)
