Samsung, while launching the Galaxy S25 series, announced the Circular Battery Supply Chain. It is a program where the brand collects old Galaxy phones, takes out their batteries, extracts cobalt from them, and then uses 50% recycled cobalt to make batteries for the Galaxy S25 lineup. This makes the new phones more environmentally friendly. Well, the South Korean tech giant has now explained the whole process in detail.
Samsung used 50% recycled cobalt to make batteries for the Galaxy S24 series as well. However, with those phones, it sourced recycled cobalt from outside. That’s not the case with the Galaxy S25 series. The recycled cobalt that the company is using for the new phones comes from old Galaxy devices. That makes the Circular Battery Supply Chain a closed-loop program, allowing Samsung to reuse materials from its own devices.
Five steps in the Circular Battery Supply Chain
The first step is collecting Galaxy devices. According to the South Korean tech giant, it takes Galaxy devices that it has discarded during the manufacturing process due to defects and the Galaxy devices that people have returned in exchange for new ones (traded-in) in the USA and then extracts their materials for recycling purposes.
In the second step, Samsung removes the batteries from the Galaxy devices that it has collected, discharges them, and shreds them. Samsung says that each year, it witnesses 200 tons of waste batteries at its production facilities in Vietnam. Sangcheul Lee from Samsung Mobile eXperience (MX) Business’ Battery Group says, “We had to engage with numerous partner companies, navigating complex and rigorous procedures. To prevent fire hazards during transport, the batteries had to be crushed and obtaining the necessary certifications to comply with relevant environmental regulations took considerable time.”
Recycled cobalt is almost similar to newly mined cobalt
In the third step, the brand processes the shredded material into fine powder, which is known as ‘black mass,’ and then refines it to extract recycled cobalt. According to Lee, “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 Kim from the Circular Economy Lab in the Global Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Office says, “The key to extracting high-purity cobalt lies in technology. Through our Circular Battery Supply Chain, we have successfully recovered and utilized over 90% of the cobalt from the discarded batteries that have been collected.”
Samsung had to go through a lot of challenges to make this possible
In the fourth step, Samsung uses the recycled cobalt to make cathode material. In the fifth step, it uses the cathode material to make batteries for the Galaxy S25. Lee adds, “With constantly evolving regulations and Samsung’s exceptionally high internal standards, we underwent multiple rounds of reviews and certifications. Despite the challenges, we persisted as a team and successfully implemented the system in the Galaxy S25.”
Image Credits – Samsung
