LG Energy Solution and Toyota Tsusho Corporation have announced a significant partnership with the formation of Green Metals Battery Innovations, LLC, a joint venture dedicated to advancing battery recycling in the United States. This collaboration underlines the growing commitment of both companies to fostering a circular economy in the electric vehicle (EV) battery supply chain and reducing carbon emissions.
The joint venture will establish a pre-processing plant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, specifically designed to dismantle and shred battery production scrap to extract a valuable substance known as black mass. This black mass contains essential raw materials such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium, which are critical for battery production. Initially, LG Energy Solution will supply scrap from its EV battery manufacturing to the facility, which is targeted to begin operations in 2026. The plant’s goal is to achieve an annual processing capacity of 13,500 tons of scrap, roughly equivalent to recycling over 40,000 automotive batteries. The black mass extracted will then undergo further post-processing to recover raw materials and feed into a closed-loop, battery-to-battery recycling system. This circular approach aims to continuously recycle materials for new battery production, helping to secure supply chains while simultaneously supporting environmental sustainability.
The initiative expands on the longstanding collaboration between LG Energy Solution, a global leader in battery manufacturing, and Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the trading arm of the Toyota Group. According to Chang Beom Kang, Chief Strategy Officer of LG Energy Solution, the joint venture is a strategic move to bolster competitive recycling infrastructure in North America while stabilising the supply of key battery materials. Masaharu Katayama, Chief Operating Officer of Toyota Tsusho, emphasised the partnership’s importance in advancing sustainable mobility by promoting a circular economy model for batteries.
This recycling venture complements broader battery manufacturing investments in North Carolina by Toyota and its affiliates. Since 2021, Toyota Tsusho has been heavily investing in battery manufacturing facilities at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite. Initial plans launched with a $1.29 billion investment to produce lithium-ion batteries for up to 800,000 vehicles annually, with plans for expansion. By mid-2023, additional investments totalling approximately $2.1 billion have been announced to scale the facility further in anticipation of rising battery demand due to EV growth in the region. Earlier, in 2022, Toyota also committed $2.5 billion to expand the same facility, adding capacity for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), supporting the company’s electrification ambitions in North America while creating hundreds of new jobs.
In parallel, LG Energy Solution is expanding its battery production capabilities in Michigan. Following a landmark long-term supply agreement with Toyota signed in early 2025, LG plans to invest around $3 billion to increase capacity at its Michigan battery plant. This investment supports the production of high-nickel cobalt manganese aluminium (NCMA) battery modules, designed to meet growing EV demand by supplying Toyota with 20 gigawatt-hours of batteries annually from 2025 onwards.
Together, these developments illustrate a coordinated approach by Toyota and LG Energy Solution, integrating large-scale battery manufacturing with state-of-the-art recycling infrastructure. Such efforts are critical as automakers face increasing pressure to decarbonise supply chains and secure more sustainable sources of raw materials amid the global transition to electric mobility.
This joint venture also signals the rising prominence of battery recycling as a key element in the EV market’s future. By closing the loop on battery materials, car manufacturers and battery producers can mitigate supply risks tied to geopolitical and environmental concerns associated with mining raw materials. The collaboration between LG Energy Solution and Toyota Tsusho thus not only addresses sustainability goals but also enhances the resilience and competitiveness of the North American battery ecosystem over the long term.
Source: Noah Wire Services
