2023.03.27
Notice of Acquisition of Land and a Building for LIB Recycling Plant Building a New Plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, Aiming to Triple Processing Capacity
The Company has acquired land and a building to be used as a new base for a lithium-ion battery recycling plant in Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture.
1. Reasons
To achieve 14,000 tons of lithium-ion battery (hereinafter “LIB”) processing capacity, which is a target of VOLTA Inc., a consolidated subsidiary of the Company (Head Office: Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture, President: Kenta Imai, hereinafter “VOLTA”) by the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027 in the Medium-Term Management Plan, we will expand our plant base to the Kanto area, where LIB-related manufacturers are planning to build plants.
Excerpts from the financial results for 2Q of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023
2. Details regarding the acquisition of the plant
VOLTA produces black mass* from collected LIB. The plant currently in operation processes approximately 1,200 tons of LIB and has a LIB processing capacity of about 2,500 tons, while regarding Ibaraki Plant, we will build a black mass production plant with a processing capacity of 5,000 tons, which will triple the current processing capacity to 7,500 tons in total.
Ibaraki plant will intend to collect process waste from plants that are expected to generate waste LIB. It is also expected to collect used LIB from the Kanto area, which has a high population density.
*Black mass (BM): Concentrated residue of lithium, cobalt and nickel sorted from lithium-ion batteries that have been discharged, dried and crushed.
3. Collection and processing strategy with hub and spoke system
Through the joint development with Mitsubishi Materials Corporation relating to hydrometallurgical technology disclosed on December 2, 2022, we are also developing technology to collect and smelt specific minor metals (cobalt, nickel, and lithium) from black mass. We will establish this technology and start operation of a hydrometallurgical plant by FY2025.
With the hydrometallurgical plant as a hub, we will establish a collection and processing scheme based on a hub and spoke system, with black mass production plants as spokes in Japan and overseas in the future.
Excerpts from the financial results for 2Q of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023
4. Details of the acquired assets
(1) Location |
43 Yamazaki, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
(2) Site area |
15,326m2 (total floor area of the main building: 8,560m2) |
(3) Current status |
Plant and office |
5. Outline of the seller
The seller is a single domestic corporation. There is no capital relationship, human relationship, business relationship, or matters requiring special mention as a related party between the seller and the Company.
6. Schedule
(1) Date of resolution of the Board of Directors |
January 18, 2023 |
(2) Date of the conclusion of agreement |
February 10, 2023 |
(3) Date of transfer of ownership |
March 27, 2023 |
(4) Start of operation |
April 2024 (planned) *Facilities will be installed sequentially |
7. Corporate information
ENVIPRO HOLDINGS Inc. |
||
(1) |
Address |
87-1 Tanaka-cho, Fujinomiya-shi, Shizuoka |
(2) |
Representative |
Tomikazu Sano, Representative Director |
(3) |
Description of business |
Business management of affiliated companies (general recycling, trading, welfare services for people with disabilities, environmental consulting, etc.) and associated operations |
(4) |
Capital |
1,524,830,656 yen |
(5) |
Established |
2010 |
(6) |
URL |
VOLTA Inc. |
||
(1) |
Address |
55-1 Ohno, Fuji-shi, Shizuoka |
(2) |
Representative |
Kenta Imai, President |
(3) |
Description of business |
Recycling business for rechargeable batteries such as lithium-ion batteries and nickel metal hydride batteries |
(4) |
Capital |
400 million yen |
(5) |
Established |
2018 |
(6) |
Shareholder |
ENVIPRO HOLDINGS Inc.100% |
(7) |
URL |
8. Future outlook
Although this acquisition will not have a significant impact on the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, the Company believes that this will contribute to the medium- to long-term growth of the financial results and the corporate value of the Company Group.