Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) battery maker, plans to construct a battery material recycling facility in China’s central Hubei Province with an investment of around RMB 32 billion ($4.96 billion), reports Reuters. The announcement comes at a time when worldwide demand for electric vehicles has surged, which makes securing battery materials a key task for the industry.
China, the world’s biggest car market, has also set standards and policies to promote battery recycling and save materials. A CATL unit will form a joint venture with Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry to recycle used EV batteries for chemicals such as cobalt and lithium, the company said in a filing.
Last month, CATL said it had agreed to acquire Canada’s Millennial Lithium Corp, as it looks to shore up the supply of key ingredients for EV batteries. CATL’s list of customers include a swathe of automakers such as Tesla and Volkswagen AG.