An Innovative Reuse of Discarded Battery Separators
SK Innovation announced on Nov. 30 that social venture firm Right Route has developed functional fabrics by upcycling discarded lithium-ion battery separators.
These days, one million square meters of lithium-ion battery separators, which are very important for the performance and safety of electric vehicles and smartphones, are discarded every month. The amount is equivalent to 130 soccer fields and the wastes result from overproduction or very small scratches affecting marketability.
Right Route has developed the highly functional wool by combining natural wool with the separators. The developers focused on the fact that a lithium-ion battery separator and Gore-Tex are similar in cross-sectional structure and the former is externally waterproof and easily releases moisture to the outside. They bonded the separator and the wool with an environment-friendly adhesive and boosted the moisture permeability and waterproofness of the natural wool.
SK Innovation has held social venture contests since last year in an effort to strengthen its ESG management. Right Route and two other firms beat 89 and won this year’s contest on Nov. 25.