**Introduced for the First Time This Year…Granted to Technologies in Battery Recycling and Reproduction**
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Eun-kyung – The Ministry of Environment announced on the 24th that, through the newly introduced circular economy regulatory sandbox system this year, a total of nine new technologies and services for utilizing waste resources have been granted regulatory exemptions.
The regulatory sandbox system allows pilot tests for new technologies and services within a limited time, location, and scale, and if the safety and effectiveness are proven, it modifies or complements related regulations.
This year’s approved technologies and services in the circular economy field include: ▲ On-site recycling of solar panel waste (1 case) ▲ Biogas conversion of biodegradable plastic (2 cases) ▲ Recycling and reproduction technology for secondary battery (waste battery) (2 cases) ▲ Feeds from agricultural by-products (onion skins) (1 case) ▲ Production of solid fuel using sludge and livestock manure (2 cases) ▲ Production of high-quality recycled plastic from waste styrofoam (1 case).
Among these, the recycling of waste batteries containing a large amount of rare metals can stabilize the supply of critical minerals, contributing to securing domestic industrial competitiveness, as the Ministry of Environment anticipates with this exemption.
Specifically, the “low-temperature direct recycling method for waste battery recycling and reproduction technology (applied by Recell K1)” involves pre-treating the waste batteries at low temperatures to extract metals like nickel through a water treatment process and recreating precursor complex solution using sulfate-reducing bacteria.
This technology, if commercialized, could drastically reduce energy consumption and has environmental advantages such as not generating wastewater containing sulfuric acid since sulfuric acid is not used in the metal extraction process.
The “On-site recycling service for solar panel waste (applied by Wonkwang S&T)” is a pilot project that involves transporting separated materials from waste panels to recover useful resources. If commercialized, it can significantly reduce the transport volume of solar panel waste and alleviate transportation cost burdens for the disposers while increasing the recovery rate of useful resources.
Last year, 357 tons of solar panel waste were generated, and by the end of November this year, 890 tons were recorded, with a forecast of around 1,000 tons by year-end. The Ministry of Environment expects this project to promote recycling of waste panels.
Since the circular economy regulatory sandbox system has been implemented for the first time, the ministry has encouraged industry participation by conducting 176 business consultations till last month.
Currently, 47 business projects (including 9 approvals) discovered through these consultations are under review.
Next year, not only will projects discovered through applications from individual companies be pursued, but the government will also directly identify key circular resources first and then recruit businesses to demonstrate them, as part of a planned regulatory sandbox system.
Ahn Se-chang, Director of the Climate Carbon Division at the Ministry of Environment, stated, “In a rapidly evolving industrial landscape, we will actively support companies bravely challenging ambiguous or unreasonable regulations that hinder new technologies and services.”