Minister Han Hwa-jin, “Thorough safety management throughout the entire process of waste batteries, from dismantling to transportation and storage”
Detailed plan to supplement standards for the dismantling, transportation, and storage of waste batteries to strengthen safety management

The Ministry of Environment is inspecting overall safety management, led by Minister Han Hwa-jin, as the need for safety management during the dismantling, storage, and transportation processes has expanded due to the increase in waste batteries flowing into recycling facilities.

The Ministry of Environment announced on the afternoon of the 11th that Minister Han Hwa-jin will visit the Capital Region Resource Recycling Center (located in Yongin City), a home appliance recycling facility, to inspect the safety management status of the entire recycling process, including the dismantling, separation, transportation, and storage of waste home appliances containing batteries.

The Capital Region Resource Recycling Center was established in 2003 and is a recycling facility that dismantles and breaks down waste electrical and electronic products collected in the capital region to recover useful resources (iron, copper, plastic, etc.). As of last year, it processes 29,000 tons of waste electrical appliances annually.

The Ministry of Environment and the home appliance recycling cooperative, E-Sunhwan Governance, recognize the risk of fire if waste batteries are not safely separated and stored. Therefore, they are currently developing a fire detection device (kit) to enable the safe dismantling and transportation of waste batteries to dedicated recycling facilities.

Technology development for this device is scheduled to be completed by October 2024, and it is set to be distributed to collection centers and recycling facilities nationwide starting next year.

In addition, the Ministry of Environment, in order to strengthen safety management during the dismantling, storage, and transportation of waste batteries, [addresses] current safety standards (fire prevention measures, operation during accidents)We plan to supplement the recovery of leaked waste, etc., in more detail by referring to overseas cases.

Environment Minister Han Hwa-jin stated, “As the use of home appliances containing batteries, such as portable fans, is increasing recently, we will prevent potential safety accidents in advance,” adding, “We will devote our full efforts to safety management throughout the entire recycling process, including the dismantling, transportation, and storage of waste batteries.”