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As Thailand expands EV and battery manufacturing, Sun-up Recycling is positioning its solvent recovery operations to serve new chemical waste streams emerging from the sector. (Photo: Sun-up Recycling)
Thailand’s electric vehicle push has focused on batteries, charging infrastructure, and factory investment. Less visible is the growing volume of chemical waste those factories generate and the infrastructure needed to recover it.
As battery manufacturing expands across the country, recycling companies are beginning to prepare for a waste stream that looks very different from the paint thinners and degreasers traditionally associated with automotive production. The immediate opportunity lies not in retired EV batteries, but in the solvents, electrode coating residues, and manufacturing scrap generated while producing them.
Sun-up Recycling, a subsidiary of Japan’s Sun-up Corporation, is one of the companies positioning itself for that shift. Operating an organic solvent recovery facility in Chachoengsao Province within Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), the company processes roughly 8,000 to 9,000 tonnes of used solvents annually from automotive, electronics, and semiconductor manufacturers through fractional distillation, returning recovered chemicals back into industrial use.
“People think about battery recycling and imagine end-of-life EV batteries,” CEO Siamnat Panassorn told RECCESSARY. “But right now the bigger opportunity is manufacturing waste.”
Unlock the full article to explore three key takeaways:
Thailand's near-term battery recycling opportunity lies in manufacturing waste, not end-of-life EV batteries.
Battery production is generating new demand for recovering specialized solvents such as NMP.
Solvent recycling is increasingly valued for supply security and carbon reduction, not just waste management.