Local News

The city of Kitakyushu joined with 19 groups from industry, government, and academia to form the Lithium Ion Battery Reuse – Recycle Research Association. The batteries used are those from e-cars and hybrid vehicles. The new association envisions a large expansion in battery use in the future, and will create a mechanism to collect the batteries after the autos are disposed for recharging solar power generators and other uses. They will also examine ways to recover the cobalt and other rare earth metals in the batteries. The city says this is the first such cooperative effort to reuse these batteries in Japan.