Crimson Publishers

Case Report

Wings to the Research

Toward the Creation of the Asian xEV Battery
Recycling Zone
So Sasaki1*, Yoshiaki Ishimoto2 and Hiromitsu Takagi3
ISSN: 2576-8840

Faculty of Economics, Chuo University, Japan and Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn
University, Thailand
1

Toyota Daihatsu Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Thailand

2

Waste Management Siam Ltd., Thailand

3

Abstract*Corresponding author: So Sasaki,
Faculty of Economics, Chuo University,
Japan
Submission:
Published:

February 21, 2022

March 08, 2022

Volume 16 - Issue 5

How to cite this article: So Sasaki, Yoshiaki
Ishimoto, Hiromitsu Takagi. Toward
the Creation of the Asian xEV Battery
Recycling Zone. Res Dev Material Sci. 16(5).
RDMS.000896. 2022.
DOI: 10.31031/RDMS.2022.16.000896

Copyright@ So Sasaki. This article isdistributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License, which permits unrestricted use
and redistribution provided that theoriginal author and source are credited.

There are many research papers on xEV battery recycling, but few on practice-based approaches. The
practice case of recycling in Thailand showed that manufacturers could evaluate the quality of usedbatteries and sort them into rebuild, reuse, and recycle for efficient resource use. In particular, recyclingxEV batteries has shown that CO2 emissions can be reduced to one-third by the current cases ofpretreatment in Thailand and posttreatment in Japan. Furthermore, if it becomes possible to collect usedbatteries from neighboring countries and carry out smelting in Thailand in the future, it can be estimatedthat the current cases can be reduced to one-third. Finally, based on these results, policy implications arerecommended.
Keywords: Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries; Lithium-Ion Battery (LIB); CO2 emissions; Life cycle
management

Introduction

Under the green recovery program for post-pandemic, it has been announced thatnew vehicles with an internal combustion engine will be banned from sales in addition toother measures to promote the Electric Motor Vehicle (EMV) in many countries. The EMV iscommonly referred to as a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle(PHEV), an Electric Vehicle (EV), and a Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV). In this study, they arereferred to as the xEV. The core technologies of xEV are “batteries,” especially Nickel-Metal
Hydride (NiMH) batteries and Lithium-Ion Battery (LIB).

Recently, there are many research papers on xEV battery recycling [1-8]. Brückner et
al. [1] and Werner et al. [2] discussed the supply chain and technical over-view of recycling
after collection. However, rare and expensive metals (e.g., Co, Li, and Ni) are being recovered
with great interest; nonetheless, there still exist insufficient studies regarding electrolyte
and anode materials (graphite) in end-of-life LIBs [3,4]. Kim et al. [5] focused exclusively on
the pretreatment process for the first time. The pretreatment process enhances recovery
efficiency and reduces energy consumption. There are also some studies on the possibilityof recovery. Mo [6] also analyzed the impact of LIB recycling policy on material prices, whichis economically beneficial because valuable battery materials can be collected in the processof recycling. By substituting virgin materials with recycled materials, the total pack cost can

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be reduced by up to 30% [7]. In another study, it was estimatedthat approximately 65% of the cobalt necessary to satisfy vehicle
demand in the United States could be achieved by LIB re-cycling [8].

The important point here is that they assumed that thecollection would be carried out. Therefore, several papers havehighlighted the challenges and the importance of collection.

Xu et al. [9] mentioned that Closed-loop recycling will play aminor but increasingly important role for reducing primary material
demand until 2050; however, advances in recycling are necessary
to economically recover battery-grade materials from end-of-lifebatteries. Qiao et al. [10] also concluded that the recovered lithium
could meet 60% of the lithium demand for LIBs produced by 2050,
and it is necessary to develop the closed-loop recycling of lithium
vigorously in China.

As pointed out in Chinese papers, the Chinese government
has announced policies and regulations on battery recycling. In
particular, in February 2018, the “Tentative Law for the Recycling
Management of NEV Drive Batteries” was announced, and it
became obligatory to inform the authorities of the distribution
route information of drive batteries to each business operator suchas battery manufacturers and automobile manufacturers [11].
Furthermore, in November 2019, guidelines for the establishment
and operation of bases for the collection of end-of-life NEV batteries
were published [12]. In addition to some policies and regulations
on battery recycling, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of
Public Security, and the State Administration of Taxation issued
a notice that accelerated and promoted the registration of small
and ultra-small non-commercial used cars across provinces, andalso accelerated the formation of a unified nationwide market by
improving the convenience of used car transactions [13].
Of course, reports other than those from China also pointout the issue of collection. Yun et al. [14] estimated that in 2020,
there were 250,000 tons of LIB waste and no infrastructure tomatch up its collection and recycling. Harper et al. [15] reported
the environmental and economic advantages of second use
and concluded that the low volume of electric-vehicle batteries
currently available for recycling could stifle the development of arecycling industry in some places. The report by Beaudet et al. [16]is a good review paper that sorts out issues by recycling the supply
chain and pointing out issues in particular about collection.

Melin [17] analyzed the areas in which peer-reviewed papers
were concentrated and indicated that it takes a longer time forthe batteries to reach recycling and that they are exported to agreater extent than other batteries for reuse purposes, and only
a few studies in China, Japan, and the United States have focusedon how batteries reach re-cycling. The imminent arrival of EVs
into the waste stream requires planning for their disposal and theassociated infrastructure [18].
The report by Malinauskaite et al. [19] is one of the few good
papers in this field that summarizes the relationship between

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technology and the legal system. The authors pointed out thatvehicle manufacturers and importers, among other things, arerequired to establish collection networks to take back theirvehicles free of charge at end-of-life. Neubauer [20] also presented
a cost analysis to evaluate the potential im-pact of the EOL battery
value on the price of EVs, resulting in an 11% maximum potential
reduction in the initial battery price when a considerable secondhand market demand exists at the time of retirement.

However, few previous studies have mentioned the distributionof used cars. Wang and Yu’s research is very valuable for exportingor trading used xEVs in Japan, Mongolia, and China. Wang et al.
[21] estimated that there will be a huge amount of end-of-life HEVs
as well as NiMH batteries generated in Mongolia, even more thanin Japan, which has the largest HEV market. Wang [22] said that
because of the flow of second-hand vehicles from economicallydeveloped cities to less economically developed cities, only 400,000
EoL EVs and 3.4 million waste LiBs will be recycled through theformal recycling route in China. Moreover, Wang [23] pointed outthat it was essential to improve the collection rate of waste LiBs toestablish an efficient waste LiB industry in China. Wang et al. [24],by using scenario analysis on the secondhand HEV exportationand components’ flow was further performed, and the effect of
secondhand HEV and components’ exportation was discussed. The
result shows that only 0.11 mil-lion waste HEVs will be recycled inJapan in 2030.
Regarding used car distribution in the EU, Bhari et al. [25] also
found that vehicles with unknown whereabouts were significantly
higher in the EU, while the used vehicle export fraction was
significantly higher in Japan. Unknown whereabouts refer to deregistered vehicles without any proof of destruction or export[26]. Fallah et al. [27] published a rare paper that incorporates
the distribution volume of the used car market imported into
Ireland into an estimation model of end-of-life xEVs Battery Stock
Esti-mation. Their results confirmed the significant influence ofgovernment policies on the EV adoption profile.

As revealed in the literature review, in order to consider a realistic
xEV battery recycling model with practice-based approaches, used
car distribution and its collection must be considered.

Case Presentation

Here, we introduce an outline of advanced re-cycling cases inThailand from the perspective of practice-based approaches andverify their effects. Toyota Motor Thailand (TMT) has establisheda battery lifecycle management system, which is the first outside ofJapan. In Thailand, approximately 8,000 HEV batteries are replaced
annually at their dealer shops. These batteries are then collected
and transported to the warehouse and checked for quality using
rapid diagnosis systems. These systems can be classified into threegrades within five minutes. Grade A has become a rebuilt battery
operated by Denso since 2020, Grade B is reused as a storage
battery that is used by TMT, and Grade C is recycled by Toyota
Tsusho since 2019 as shown in Figure 1.
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Figure 1: Battery life cycle management system by Toyota motor Thailand.
The recycling process is pretreated at Waste Management Siam
(WMS). WMS has owned and operated an incinerator for industrial
waste since 2006 and added a fixed-bed furnace for xEV battery
recycling. Their fixed bed furnace has a capacity of 4.2 ton/day. The
reason for selecting the incineration process is that other processes
have some risk of electric shock or fire in discharging/dismantling.
The incineration process can resolve these problems in the post-process, fewer processes that mean more efficient recycling,
and prevent unauthorized resale or reuse, which can protect
confidentiality. The disadvantages of the incineration processinclude the requirements for air pollution control equipment
and ash treatment, which are costly. The cost of the air pollution
prevention equipment has not increased because the existing
equipment is shared.

Figure 2: The current, past, and future recycling flows from the perspective of Life Cycle CO2 (LCCO2).

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Copyright © So Sasaki

RDMS.000896. 16(5).2022

WMS has primarily processed NiMH batteries in Thailand,
and then exported to Japan for smelting and using as recycledmaterials for new batteries. This post-process in Japan is expensive.
Therefore, these are currently being changed to the process ofmaking stainless steel using an electric furnace. We evaluated thecurrent, past, and future recycling flows from the perspective of life
cycle CO2, if the amount of CO2 emissions generated in the current
project is 100, the past project that collected NiMH batteriesin Thailand and exported to Belgium for recycling generated
approximately 277 more CO2 emissions. It is estimated that CO2
emissions can be suppressed to up to 27, if batteries are collectedfrom neighboring countries making integrated recycling, including
the process of smelting in Thailand, which is a possibility in the
future, as shown in Figure 2.
There are two reasons for collecting data from neighboring
countries such as Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. The first is that
Thailand alone lacks recycled materials that will be exported
as used xEVs to be neighboring countries. Second, neighboring
countries have already imported used xEVs from the USA, Japan, andso on; however, they do not have recycling facilities for batteries. It
should be emphasized here that this future recycling flow will havethe lowest estimated CO2 emissions and will also be an important
strategy in the raw material procurement of the xEV strategy aimedby the Thai government.

Discussion

The practice case of recycling in Thailand showed that
manufacturers could evaluate the quality of used batteries andsort them into rebuild, reuse, and recycle for efficient resource use.
In particular, recycling xEV batteries showed that CO2 emissions
can be reduced to one-third by making the past cases exported to
Belgium into the current cases of pretreatment in Thailand andposttreatment in Japan. Furthermore, if it becomes possible to collectused batteries from neighboring countries and carry out smelting in
Thailand in the future, it can be estimated that the current cases canbe reduced to one-third. To achieve this, the statistics on scrappedcars have not yet been developed in many Asian countries, and it isnecessary to estimate the material flow analysis that includes used
car trade. And also, there are some policy challenges regarding
the handling of used and waste xEV batteries due to the banningof E-waste imports by the Thai government, which has resulted in
the loss of business opportunities for companies with legal importpermits [28]. The Thai government should reconsider the ban andallow imports of used and waste xEV batteries under the Basel
Convention procedure to promote resource security in Thailandand efficient resource circulation in Southeast Asia.

In the material flow survey, which points out the issues ofcollection End-of-life vehicles and end-of-life LIB [9-27], it isindispensable to grasp the trade of used cars, and it is the mosteffective response to promote the introduction of the Harmonized
System code of used cars of xEVs in Asian countries as well asJapan and Europe, and it should be considered immediately. In

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the near future, battery resource circulation will be the main issue
in the promotion of xEVs due to critical materials such as cobalt,
nickel, and lithium. In Asian countries where there is no strategic
resource circulation between nations, the establishment of an
Asian Battery Alliance similar to the European Battery Alliance,measures to mitigate cross-border movement of battery recycling
resources, and manufacturerled cross-border extended producer
responsibility to collect batteries from exported used xEVs will be
crucial steps in achieving the xEV strategy. Currently, there are xEVstrategies and measures to attract foreign-affiliated companies ineach Asian country. Instead, Asian Battery Alliance will be required
to coordinate interests across Asian countries and support xEVbattery recycling facilities.

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers
19H01385 and 20KK0299

Conflicts of Interest

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of theauthor and do not necessarily reflect the views of their institution.
The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection,
analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript;
or in the decision to publish the results.

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