LG Electronics has surpassed 1 million tons of collected waste batteries through its resource recycling efforts through four years of resource circulation activities. The company has collected 240,000 waste batteries from 140,000 consumers, extracting 9.6 tons (about 21,160 pounds) of rare metals.
On Tuesday, LG Electronics announced the expansion of its customer participation resource recycling campaign, Battery Return. This initiative involves collecting and dismantling non-reusable waste batteries to extract and recycle rare metals.
The Battery Return campaign collects waste batteries and parts from LG vacuum cleaners, recovering rare metals such as nickel, cobalt, lithium, and manganese. Participating customers are offered discounts on new parts purchases.
Since 2022, LG Electronics has collaborated with the Ministry of Environment, the Korea Environmental Corporation, and E-Circular Governance to collect 108 tons (about 238,100 pounds) of waste batteries. The number of participating customers steadily increased from 12,000 in the first year to 50,000 last year.
This year, LG Electronics expanded the Battery Return campaign through nationwide service centers, online brand shops, and city bus advertisements. During the first campaign held over two months starting in May, 26,000 participants collected 18 tons (about 39,700 pounds) of waste batteries, an increase of 1,500 participants compared to the previous year.
LG Electronics will launch the second round of this year’s campaign in October. Customers who wish to participate can return their waste batteries to any LG Electronics service center. Alternatively, they can pre-register on the online brand shop and drop off their batteries at the nearest waste electronics collection box.
Jeong Gi-wook, head of LG Electronics’ vacuum cleaner business, stated that it will support more customers in participating in resource recycling activities and achieve its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) vision of Better Lives for All.