Climate, Energy and Environment Ministry opens consultation on battery recycling rules

The Climate, Energy and Environment Ministry said it would open public consultation on rule changes to promote domestic recycling of used secondary batteries and accommodate expected increases in future waste resources.

The drafts will be published for comment from Aug. 21 to Oct. 1. Materials containing nickel and cobalt totaling at least 13 percent would qualify as recycled battery feedstock, instead of the current nickel-only threshold of 10 percent. The rules would specify that such materials are used domestically to make products.

The proposals would establish a separate classification code for spent batteries used in energy storage systems and uninterruptible power supplies, while allowing recoverable battery types to be remanufactured or reused rather than recycled only. Transport and storage standards would extend from electric vehicles to hybrid and hydrogen vehicles, construction and agricultural machinery, and energy-storage equipment. Damaged or deformed high-risk batteries would require sealed transport containers, emergency-response equipment, insulation and cushioning measures.

The ministry would broaden the remit of seven regional collection centers. The centers could collect, store and sell vehicle drive motors and fuel cells, wind-turbine nacelles and blades, and energy-storage systems.

Manufacturers, importers and retailers would receive clearer guidance on large products they must take back free of charge when installing a replacement at a buyer's home. The resource-circulation rules are due to take effect Dec. 10, while the waste-management rules are slated for completion by year-end.

"Future waste resources must be managed safely, but they are also key resources that support industrial supply chains," Kim Go-eung, director of the Climate, Energy and Environment Ministry's Resource Circulation Bureau, said.