Battery Maker LG Chem Makes Blockchain-powered Sustainability Drive

LG Chem, one of the world’s biggest lithium-ion battery producers, said that it will build a blockchain-powered supply chain traceability platform for its battery products.

The firm, part of the wider LG Group of companies, said that it spent USD 92 million in a sustainability-based R&D initiative last year – and said that the new battery platform is one of the fruits of that investment.

Per Updown News, LG Chem stated that it invested more than 4% of its sales revenue for 2019 in a companywide sustainability drive that has focused on “mid- to long-term R&D projects, especially in the battery and bio sectors.”

LG Chem is one of the top five lithium-ion battery producers in the world, and is arguably the LG Group’s main money-spinner. Per a Research and Markets release last week, the global lithium-ion battery market was valued at USD 36.7bn last year. It is expected to reach USD 129bn by 2027, at a compound annual growth rate of 18% from 2020 to 2027.

Analysts say that a spike in electric vehicles and smartphone sales is expected to drive the growth.

However, the lithium-ion producing sector has come under fire from activists in recent years, with reports connecting the industry with widespread human rights abuses.

Last year, Amnesty stated that the industry was “linked to human rights abuses including child labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and environmental risks which could undermine their green potential.”

The organization called for battery makers to make “radical changes” to the way they operate.

LG Chem said it would use the platform to track and manage the supply chain of raw materials used in battery manufacture.

The firm stated that sustainability throughout the entire supply chain was the only way forward for companies in the industry.
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