How Cobalt Recycling Supports Samsung's Battery Circularity
Elements such as cobalt and lithium are crucial for innovations like electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy.
Despite their importance, the process of obtaining these minerals poses considerable environmental and ethical hurdles.
Responsible sourcing practices are vital to enhance sustainability and uphold company reputations under environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments.
Samsung Electronics has launched a circular battery supply chain by recycling cobalt from manufacturing and production scrap in Vietnam.
The initiative will help to tackle the excessive waste Samsung’s production facilities in Vietnam record every year, which amounts to around 200 tonnes of waste battery material.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 was the first device to feature batteries using this recycled cobalt.
With the Galaxy S25, the company continues to advance this practice by salvaging cobalt from scrap during the battery production process, thus reducing reliance on newly mined minerals.
This strategy allows Samsung to decrease its carbon footprint and establish more traceable and sustainable supply chains within the technology sector.
Youngmin Kim, from the Circular Economy Lab in the Global Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Office at Samsung, explains: “Samsung’s Vietnam facilities are among those that generate the highest volume of waste batteries, including defective units from the manufacturing process and batteries recovered from a factory that repairs Galaxy phones traded in from the United States.
“Our goal was to create a system that would allow us to recycle these resources and reintegrate them into our products.”
Why is cobalt so important?
In the world of lithium-ion batteries found in smartphones, cobalt is essential to enhance energy density ensuring stability and peak performance.
It helps in maintaining optimal battery function by aiding in electron transportation, crucial for powering devices and electric vehicles alike.
Cobalt is also instrumental in preventing battery overheating, stabilising a battery's overall operation.
Yet, extracting cobalt is predominantly carried out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and raises environmental concerns such as land degradation and water pollution.
The extraction processes have often been marred by human rights abuses and hazardous labour conditions.
By reclaiming cobalt used in previous batteries and incorporating it into new units, Samsung hopes to mitigate the environmental impact and lessen its dependence on freshly mined materials.
Sangcheul Lee, from the Battery Group in the Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics, says: “Cobalt does not degrade with battery use, meaning it can theoretically be recycled indefinitely.
“Recycled cobalt and newly mined cobalt are virtually identical — so much so that the difference is indistinguishable in the manufacturing process.”
Youngmin continues: “The key to extracting high-purity cobalt lies in technology. Through our Circular Battery Supply Chain, we have successfully recovered and utilized more than 90% of the cobalt from the discarded batteries that have been collected.
“With the Galaxy S25, we’ve also reached another significant milestone in resource circularity — wafer trays discarded after semiconductor manufacturing have been repurposed into a plastic used in the side and volume keys.
“We are working on various projects to expand resource circularity across other product lines as well and we hope our users will continue to join us on our journey.”
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