Page 82 - EER-2-2

Explora: Environment

and Resource

PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE
Securing critical minerals and recycling

battery for sustainable development: A Korean
perspective

Jinyoung Je , Hongin Kim , Hyun-woo Shim , and Jeong-soo Sohn*
Resources Recycling Research Center, Resources Utilization Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience
and Mineral Resources, Republic of Korea

Abstract

Drawing on the case of Korea, this paper presents an argument on the comprehensive
strategies that integrate technology, policy, and cultural changes to address the
climate crisis and ensure a stable transition to renewable energy. Recently, Korea has
been shifting its industrial focus to the eco-friendly energy sector, including electric
vehicle industry, with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. This shift
means that there is a growing demand for critical minerals such as cobalt, nickel, and
lithium, which are essential for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries. With growing
interest in securing critical minerals and battery recycling, four key areas are explored
from a Korean perspective: (1) the role of critical minerals in EV battery production;
(2) advancements in battery recycling technology; (3) misconceptions and truths
*Corresponding author: about climate crisis, energy transition, and battery recycling; and (4) ongoing
Jeong-soo Sohn policies on battery recycling in Korea. Addressing the global problems related to
(jss@kigam.re.kr)
critical mineral procurement and battery recycling and introducing the recent
Citation: Je J, Kim H, Shim H, implementations at the government level in Korea can contribute to sustainability,
Sohn J. Securing critical minerals
and recycling battery for sustainable ensuring progression in the right direction.
development: A Korean perspective.
Explora Environ Resour.
2025;2(2):8140. Keywords: Lithium-ion battery; Critical minerals; Battery recycling; Carbon neutrality;
doi: 10.36922/eer.8140 Republic of Korea
Received: December 23, 2024
1st revised: January 20, 2025
2nd revised: February 19, 2025 1. Introduction
Accepted: February 25, 2025 Among the leading industries in Korea, the shift in interest from the steel, shipbuilding,
and construction industries to the electronics, semiconductor, and automobile industries
Published online: March 11, 2025
has been a major change over the past 20 years. This change implies that the landscape of
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). the core industries in Korea that drive economic growth through exports has changed,
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the and recently, the focus has shifted to the eco-friendly energy industry to solve the
Creative Commons Attribution problem of global warming caused by increased carbon dioxide emissions.
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, Efforts to solve the climate crisis by achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 are
provided the original work is being made worldwide, and e-mobility is receiving attention as a specific measure.
1,2
properly cited. Accordingly, the electric vehicle and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle industries, which replace
Publisher’s Note: AccScience internal combustion engines with fossil fuels, are growing rapidly, and the demand for
Publishing remains neutral with batteries used in these eco-friendly vehicles is skyrocketing. It is expected that by 2030,
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional eco-friendly vehicles will account for >40 million of the approximately 100 million
affiliations. vehicles produced worldwide. 3-5

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/eer.8140