SK Ecoplant looks to enter US battery recycling business: CEO

SK Ecoplant Co., a South Korean construction engineering company, will enter the US battery recycling business by investing in promising startups, Chief Executive Park Kyung-il said.

Meeting reporters at CES 2023 in Las Vegas, Park said SK is looking for companies in the US with technological prowess in the eco-friendly and renewable energy sectors for investment.

SK is betting on the waste battery business, which extracts raw materials that can be recycled by disassembling end-of-life electric vehicle batteries, he said.

“I’ve met with Plug and Play CEO Saeed Amidi at the CES event and we have agreed to jointly look for promising startups,” Park told The Korea Economic Daily.

SK Ecoplant, formerly SK Engineering & Construction Co., on Jan. 5 signed a memorandum of understanding with Plug and Play (PnP) to identify smaller companies with promising technologies for investment.

Based in Silicon Valley, Plug and Play is a leading innovation platform, connecting startups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities and government agencies.

PnP is known for its early-stage investment in large information technology companies, including Google, PayPal and Dropbox. The venture capitalist has so far invested in some 2,500 successful startups across the globe.

During the CES event, SK Ecoplant also contacted a company that has the technology to extract hydrogen from biogas generated from food or waste wood.

SK Ecoplant is striving to transform into an eco-friendly energy company from a construction enterprise.

BUILDING A GLOBAL NETWORK FOR RECYCLING BUSINESS

Last week, it has signed an initial agreement with China State Construction Engineering Corp. (CSCEC), the world's No. 1 construction contractor, to jointly identify and develop overseas renewable energy sources.

In late August, SK invested $50 million in Ascend Elements Inc., a US lithium-ion battery recycling firm, becoming its largest shareholder.

As part of its efforts to strengthen its recycling business, SK also acquired Singapore-based electronic waste recycling company TES Envirocorp Pte. Ltd. for $1 billion in February.

TES operates 43 plants in 21 countries, with major facilities in Singapore, China, Australia, the UK and Germany.

SK Ecoplant is building a network in the global recycling industry through its recent investments to enhance its presence in the recycling market, which is forecast to grow to 600 trillion won ($443 billion) by 2050, Park said.

At CES 2023, SK Ecoplant showcased Wayble, a platform that digitally tracks and manages the entire lifecycle of waste. The technology won the Innovation Award at CES 2023 in the Smart City category.

Write to Jong-Pil Park at jp@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.