Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has called for the management of used electric vehicle (EV) batteries using the circular economy approach so as not to endanger the environment and generate economic added value.
Used electric vehicle batteries can be used as raw materials to create new lithium batteries, ministry official Rosa Vivien Ratnawati told ANTARA on Wednesday.
Potential EV waste to consider are used batteries and lubricants, he said.
Thus, the government is encouraging the use of electric vehicle batteries as sustainable raw materials to minimize the use of new raw materials.
In addition, the policy also offers economic benefits as it can reduce the production cost of the main components of electric vehicles.
A circular economy approach, focusing on reduction, reuse and recycling, is expected to have a positive impact on the effort to reduce the consumption of primary resources and the production of waste.
The ministry continues to coordinate with related stakeholders so that electric vehicle batteries can be recycled. Ratnawati said.
Stakeholders include the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Industry, the General Directorate of Customs and Excise of the Ministry of Finance, as well as the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investments.
Meanwhile, with regard to used lubricants, their management will involve the collectors and users of toxic and hazardous waste materials.
“The process starts from collection, destruction and chemical processing using eco-friendly technology. Products that meet the criteria can be recycled,” Ratnawati said.
He also urged vehicle factories and workshops to set up facilities for the collection of used batteries that can then be handed over to users of waste electric vehicle batteries.
He said he also hopes that battery raw materials will not be exported abroad, but will be processed by the domestic battery-producing industry, as a supplier of vehicle batteries to the world.
“There is an inverter in Southeast Sulawesi that uses used batteries from electric vehicles,” he said.
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