The future research focus of the joint venture-lithium battery recycling

　　The joint venture SungEel MCC America LLC (SMA) will utilize MCC’s global network of agents, traders, suppliers, electronic recyclers and customers, as well as SungEel’s LIB recycling process, and describe it as proprietary.

　　New York-based WhitePlains, MetallicaCommoditiesCorp.LLC (MCC) and South Korea’s SungEelHiTech Co. Ltd. announced the establishment of a joint venture to target the northern lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling US market.

　　The joint venture SungEelMCC America LLC (SMA) will utilize MCC’s global network of agents, traders, suppliers, electronic recyclers and customers, as well as SungEel’s LIB recycling process, and describe it as proprietary.

　　SMA stated that it will initially recycle more than 3,000 tons of used lithium-ion batteries annually and will employ about 100 people. Cobalt, nickel, lithium and copper will be recovered from recycled batteries through the company's so-called "efficient and environmentally friendly process". The recovered metal can be used to make new lithium-ion batteries or for other industrial applications.

　　According to SMA, the consumption of the two materials has exceeded the supply in recent years, and the United States lacks local production of the two materials. Cobalt and lithium are sometimes defined as "foreign" metals found in LIBs. More than 50% of the world's cobalt reserves are located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and more than 50% of lithium reserves are located in the "lithium triangle" region of South America, which crosses the border between Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.

　　"We are very pleased to cooperate with SungEel to bring environmentally friendly LIB recycling to the North American market," said Denmark Mill, COO of MCC. "We believe that SMA will revolutionize the e-waste recycling and energy markets, create high-income jobs, and make the Americas at the forefront of the renewable energy movement."

　　"SungEelHiTech Co., Ltd. is based on the internationally recognized leading recycling technology, and together with the MCC that has established an extensive network, it is an excellent opportunity to challenge the North American recycling market," said YiMyung, CEO of SungEelHiTechCo. "SMA will expand to North and Central America, become a leader in the LIB recycling market, and will expand its environmentally friendly recycling process based on solid technology."

　　SungEel was established in 2000 and is one of the few important LIB recyclers in the world. The company recycles more than 8,000 tons of discarded LIB and waste materials every year. The company said that in order to cope with the expected increase in LIB brought about by the growth of the electronic automobile industry, its current production capacity is expanding 5 times by 2021.

　　MCC describes itself as a group of more than 115 people, focusing on the commercial recovery of non-ferrous concentrates, residues and by-products produced in the mining, metallurgy, recycling and processing industries. The company has operations or offices in the United States, Canada, France, Guyana, Peru, Tanzania and the United Kingdom.