Envirostream signs deals with LG Energy and Hyundai Glovis

In Australia, the South Korean battery-making giant LG Energy Solution has signed an exclusive three-year battery recycling agreement with Envirostream Australia to recycle used lithium-ion batteries from EVs and ESS applications across the country.

The two companies already had an existing agreement that was announced in September 2022, which will now be replaced by this latest agreement.

The new agreement is expected to significantly increase the Australian company’s recycling revenue with the increase of large-format lithium-ion battery collection volumes. Envirostream says there are about 6,000 units of LG Energy Solution’s large-format batteries that are ready for recycling in Australia, with an additional 5,000 units anticipated. This new deal represents about 140 per cent of Envirostream’s total battery collection volumes in the 2023 financial year.

Envirostream Australia has also signed a new exclusive 3-year recycling agreement with Hyundai Glovis, a logistics provider that operates a distribution network for finished vehicles. Hyundai Glovis is part of the Hyundai Motor Group and has agreed to make Envirostream the exclusive provider of battery recycling services for all of Hyundai Glovis’ batteries in Australia.

Lithium Australia, the mother company of Envirostream, says the total tonnage of stationary storage batteries (ESS or BESS) and electric batteries sold is expected to grow between 10- 40 per cent year on year until 2030. This, of course, means that the same volume of batteries will need to be recycled at the end of its first and potentially second life uses posing significant opportunities for revenue.

Lithium Australia is one of many mining companies and raw materials providers that are simultaneously building out their battery recycling capacities so that the materials stay in circulation and in their economic loops beyond mining. Recycled materials can also bring production loops closer to where they are utilised, enhancing local supply chain strategies, among many other benefits.

Envirostream says that signing exclusive contracts with leading OEMs and battery manufacturers is a core part of its national growth strategy. In 2021, the Lithium Australia subsidiary announced plans to open a second, larger battery recycling facility in Victoria.

energy-storage, lithium-au.com (LG Energy), lithium-au.com (Hyundai), envirostream.com.au