🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

This recycling agreement builds on Hyundai’s big investment in Indonesia

• Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution run a $1.1 billion joint venture battery plant in Karawang, which started operating in 2024 1.
• The site begins with 10 GWh of annual capacity, enough cells for more than 150,000 electric vehicles 2.
• Output from the plant supports Hyundai Motor Group EV production across the region, including India and Southeast Asia 1.
• Zhejiang Huayou Recycling Technology, tied to China’s Huayou Cobalt, joins as the recycling partner 1.

Hyundai moves in steps on EV supply chains as the market slows

• An LG-led consortium recently pulled out of a $7.7 billion full battery supply chain plan in Indonesia, citing changes in the global EV market plus slower demand 3.
• Starting with recycling of factory scrap keeps the plan smaller at first, which lowers risk during a choppy market 1.
• Hyundai will ship battery cell production scrap to Huayou’s recycling operation to make black mass, an intermediate material later refined to recover lithium, cobalt, and nickel for new batteries 4.
• The companies also plan to work together on recycling used EV batteries, which should grow in importance across the EV battery supply chain 1.