On July 29, the Korea Environment Corporation (KECO), a public agency under South Korea’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, signed an agreement with the Korea Auto Recycling Business Association and Energy Eco Solution to launch a pilot program for the safe transport and storage of used batteries. The signing took place at the Metropolitan Future Waste Resource Collection Center in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province. The pilot applies, for the first time in the field, a cryogenic freezing technology that had been under development as a government R&D project.

At the signing, KECO resource circulation director Moon Gap-saeng, association chairman Kim Jong-sik, and Energy Eco Solution CEO Kang Jae-young were present. Moon described the pilot as the first field application of a national R&D achievement.

Why transport and storage matter

As electric vehicle adoption grows in Korea, so does the volume of retired EV batteries. According to an estimate by the Ministry of Environment, the country’s used-battery output is projected to rise from 8,321 units in 2025 to 107,500 units by 2030. Batteries are vulnerable to heat and physical shock, and batteries recovered from accidents or flooding are especially hard to assess for internal damage just by looking at their exterior. For that reason, the transport and storage stage after collection has long been flagged as a point of fire and explosion risk.

How the cryogenic technology works

The technology being tested cools used batteries to below -100°C, suppressing current flow and internal chemical reactions. According to KECO, this can lower fire and explosion risk regardless of a battery’s external condition or remaining value.

The three organizations are building test facilities, including cryogenic containers, at the Honam Future Waste Resource Collection Center in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, and will run the pilot through December 2028. KECO is providing the test site, selecting target batteries, and evaluating results; the recycling association is coordinating participation from scrapyards nationwide; and Energy Eco Solution is building and operating the equipment and handling the actual transport and storage. Data gathered from the pilot is intended to serve as a basis for future safety standards covering the transport and storage of damaged or flood-exposed batteries.

Ahead of the Used Battery Act

The pilot comes as Korea’s so-called Used Battery Act — legislation that would manage used batteries as strategic resources rather than waste — is set to take effect on May 27 next year. The timing suggests an effort to work out practical standards for the post-collection stage before that law takes hold.

Discussion around used batteries in Korea has tended to center on reuse and recycling technology itself. This case is a reminder that the safety of the step before that — transport and storage — is its own area requiring separate standards. Questions that the pilot has not yet answered include the processing capacity and cost of cryogenic equipment at scale, its viability for long-distance transport, and how it would integrate with existing logistics. ARC Current will be watching what safety standards, if any, come out of this pilot.

Source: [Electimes] “환경공단, 사용후 배터리 초저온 안전 운송·보관 실증 착수” (https://www.electimes.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=370790)

Source: [Global Economic] “환경공단, 사용후 배터리 초저온 냉동 시범사업 착수” (https://www.g-enews.com/view.php?ud=202607300934178707a9fc143920_1)