The Battery Turn campaign to collect used cordless vacuum cleaner batteries will be held for a second time this year. LG Electronics said on Thursday it will accept used batteries at service centers nationwide through Nov. 30. Customers can return batteries regardless of manufacturer, and those unable to visit can participate remotely via the online brand shop LGE.COM. Customers who return batteries will receive discounts on purchases of batteries for LG CordZero A9, A9S and A7.

Since the campaign was launched in 2022 through the first half of this year, about 156 tons of used batteries, exceeding 340,000 units, have been collected. More than 13 tons of rare metals, which are highly scarce and used as industrial materials, were recovered. Cumulative participating customers surpassed 200,000. Participants grew more than fourfold to over 50,000 last year from about 12,000 in the first year. In the first campaign this year, about 30,000 people returned about 29 tons of used batteries, or 64,000 units, and the collection volume was about 10 tons more than the same period last year.

Used batteries that are difficult to reuse are collected and then dismantled to extract nickel, lithium, cobalt, manganese and other materials. A single LG CordZero A9S battery, which weighs about 450 grams, yields 31.91 grams of nickel, 6.06 grams of lithium, 4.21 grams of cobalt and 2.04 grams of manganese, the company said. Recycling 1,500 used batteries is equivalent to securing the lithium needed for the battery of a midsize electric vehicle.

LG Electronics on Thursday donated 15 LG CordZero AI Objet Collection A9 cordless vacuum cleaners to the child welfare facility Pine Tree Home using funds from the previous campaign. It was to give back to local communities using profits earned from recovering and recycling rare metals from used batteries. Attendees at the donation ceremony included LG Electronics executive Yoon Hyeong-tae (윤형태), head of the vacuum cleaner business unit, Korea Environment Corporation director Moon Gap-saeng (문갑생), E-Circulation Governance chairman Lee Sang-jin (이상진), and Pine Tree Home director Kim Ju-ri (김주리). The company has also donated cordless vacuum cleaners to residential facilities for people with intellectual disabilities, welfare facilities for unmarried mothers and comprehensive social welfare centers.

Collection of used home appliances is continuing in addition to Battery Turn. Used electronic products recovered in 91 regions across 56 countries worldwide last year totaled 640,000 tons, and cumulative recoveries since 2006 reached 5.65 million tons. The recycling rate of waste at domestic and overseas workplaces was 97.3 percent last year, exceeding the 2030 target of 95 percent. The company is also pursuing zero-waste-to-landfill certification for its global workplaces.

Son Chang-woo (손창우), head of LG Electronics' Living Solution division, said, "We will contribute to building a sustainable future by expanding resource-circulation activities that customers can easily join."