Cutting a wafer throws away most of the silicon
A wafer is a thin disc of silicon sliced from a solid block, used to make solar panels and computer chips. The saw that slices it grinds away a lot of the block as waste slurry, wet grit that still contains silicon. NEO Battery Materials, a Vancouver company building a silicon anode plant in Pyeongtaek City, South Korea, has signed a collaboration agreement with INNOX eco M, a South Korean recycler that turns that waste slurry into high purity silicon and silicon oxide powder. An anode is the electrode inside a battery that stores its charge while the battery is full, and adding silicon to it lets a battery pack in more energy, which is why battery makers want a steady supply of silicon in the first place.
The recycler behind the material
INNOX eco M runs 3 facilities that process this waste, 2 in South Korea and 1 in China, and plans a fourth in Vietnam. NEO Battery Materials states it chose the partnership for 3 reasons, better battery performance, a lower cost input, and a supply chain that does not depend on China.
The South Korea and China facilities are operating today. The Vietnam facility is planned, not yet built, according to the source.
Show the numbers
| South Korea | 2 |
| China | 1 |
| Vietnam | 1 |
A government funded plan to use it
In November 2024, NEO Battery Materials became a consortium partner, one of several organizations working together, in a South Korean government funded programme built specifically to turn recycled silicon into battery anode material. The programme runs 5 years and carries 20,000,000 Canadian dollars in government funding, according to the company. NEO Battery Materials states that South Korea produces about 900 tons of waste silicon a year from cutting and grinding semiconductor and solar wafers, the material the programme is built to use. Spencer Huh, President and Chief Executive Officer of NEO Battery Materials, said this.
NEO Battery Materials is highly pleased to be a consortium partner in this key project organized by the South Korean federal government.
Spencer Huh, President and Chief Executive Officer, NEO Battery Materials. Source 1.
The commercial plant is not built around this waste yet
NEO Battery Materials is separately building a commercial silicon anode plant on a site of 106,700 square feet, about 2.5 acres, in Pyeongtaek City, according to a 2022 site approval. The company own July 2023 feasibility study plans that plant to reach full production in 4 phases, from 240 tonnes a year up to 5,000 tonnes a year, but builds the plan around metallurgical grade silicon, a standard commercial silicon input, not the recycled material from INNOX eco M. No source states that any phase is already running at that rate, so the phased plan is a company target, not a measured output.
This is a company target from a July 2023 feasibility study, not installed or current capacity. No source states that any phase is already running at that rate, and the plan is built around metallurgical grade silicon, not the recycled material from INNOX eco M.
Show the numbers
| Phase 1 | 240 |
| Phase 2 | 1,000 |
| Phase 3 | 2,500 |
| Phase 4 | 5,000 |
What recycled silicon is expected to save
NEO Battery Materials states it expected recycled silicon to cut its silicon input cost by 30% to 40% compared with virgin metal silicon, when it first signed the collaboration agreement with INNOX eco M. That saving is the reason the company gives for the partnership. It is a company projection, not an audited result, because the recycled material is not yet running through the commercial plant.