Contributions to a Circular Economy

Battery Recycling

As automobiles undergo what is expected to be a rapid and long-term shift to electric drive and battery capacity becomes increasingly higher, demand is growing for the copper, nickel, cobalt, and lithium used in lithium-ion secondary batteries (LIBs) for electric vehicles, leading to calls for effective resource recycling.
Since 2017, SMM has been recovering and reusing the copper and nickel contained in LIBs through a process that combines the pyrometallurgical copper smelting processes of the Toyo Smelter & Refinery and the hydrometallurgical refining processes of the Niihama Nickel Refinery.
The recovered nickel is processed into a secondary battery cathode material at the Isoura Plant, which has allowed us to realize Japan’s first “battery to battery” horizontal recycling using materials recovered from used LIBs. SMM’s LIB recycling process facilitates enables efficient processing of used LIBs with high impurity content using our unique technologies combining pyrometallurgical smelting and hydrometallurgical refining.
In 2022, through joint development with Kanto Denka Kogyo Co., Ltd., we established technology that recycles lithium from slag containing lithium into high-purity compounds, successfully developing a new process for horizontal recycling of copper, nickel, cobalt, and lithium.
In 2024, we have decided to construct recycling plants to recover copper, nickel, cobalt, and lithium from used LIBs and other materials on the grounds of the Toyo Smelter & Refinery and the Niihama Nickel Refinery. Construction of the plants is scheduled to start in FY2024 (from April 2024 to March 2025) and be completed in June 2026. The capability of the facilities at the plants, which means the volume of raw material can be processed, is planned to be the equivalent of approximately 10,000 tons of LIB cells per year.
Their design takes into account handling the expecting future increase in used LIB and the metal recovery rate and recycled material inclusion rate defined in EU Battery Regulation in force since August 2023. The plants also incorporate the company’s own technology for suppressing CO2 emissions, and it shall undertake further technology development and optimization with the goal of reducing its carbon footprint.
Additionally, in conjunction with the construction of the plants, we signed partnership agreements with leading recycling companies to establish a supply chain for used LIB recycling. With this as a spur, we will work with our partners and accelerate studies of a collection system for used LIB. We shall continue with initiatives toward establishing an LIB recycling system and shall contribute to the achievement of a sustainable circular economy.

■ Recycling Flow

• 1Pre-processing: Heat treatment to eliminate toxins, crushing, and selection