VinES, Li-Cycle plug in to battery recycling in Vietnam
VinES Energy Solutions (VinES), a member of Vietnamese private conglomerate Vingroup and Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (Li-Cycle), an industry leader in lithium-ion battery resource recovery and a leading lithium-ion battery recycler in North America, have signed an agreement for a long-term recycling relationship.
Under the agreement, from 2024, Li-Cycle will become VinES' strategic and preferred recycling partner for VinES' Vietnamese-sourced battery materials.
The company is considering the possibility of constructing a specialised battery recycling factory (Spoke) located close to VinES' manufacturing site in central Ha Tinh province.
The potential Spoke has the opportunity to benefit from the growing local demand for lithium-ion battery recycling solutions, driven by strong economic growth and an increasing manufacturing presence in Vietnam.
An investment decision regarding the dedicated Spoke facility is expected to be made in 2025. In the meantime, Li-Cycle will facilitate the processing of VinES' material utilising Li-Cycle's North American Spoke network.
Pham Thuy Linh, CEO of VinES, said that recycling battery production scrap and used batteries into the global mobility and energy storage industries can contribute to the building of a sustainable supply chain while reducing environmental impact.
Tim Johnston, Co-founder and Executive Chair of Li-Cycle, said that the agreement supports the firms’ shared goals of creating a sustainable and a closed-loop battery supply chain.
To build on a partnership first announced in October 2022, VinES and Li-Cycle will also continue to explore global recycling solutions for VinFast, the first global electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
Earlier, VinES has recently commissioned a lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility in Hai Phong, Vietnam, and expects to further expand its production capacity in the country.
Li-Cycle opened an office in Singapore in December 2022 to support its connectivity to the Asia market and its efforts to continue building and expanding its commercial relationships with Asia-based manufacturers.