EVBatteryRecycling
Guide · City & Regional Guides

Yokohama EV Battery Retirement Guide: Safety, Paperwork and Value Factors

What operators, OEMs and workshops in Yokohama, Japan need to know about retiring lithium-ion packs responsibly.

PN

Priya Nair

EPR & Compliance Lead

3 min read Updated 2025-11-28
Collection truck driving through an urban industrial district at dawn

The short answer

EV batteries in Yokohama are collected by our Yokohama, Kanagawa site on a 24-hour pickup SLA across a 66 km radius, graded module by module, then repurposed or refined. As a oem head office, Yokohama mainly produces programme returns & engineering packs, handled under Act on the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources and the End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Act.

On this page5 sections

Key takeaways

  1. 1Yokohama is served from Yokohama — Kanagawa Diagnostics Works.
  2. 2Pickup SLA 24 hours across a 66 km radius.
  3. 3Typical material: programme returns & engineering packs.
  4. 4Rules: Act on the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources and the End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Act.
01

Why Yokohama matters

Nissan global HQ and battery research centre. Active names in and around the city include Nissan, AESC.

OEM head offices and engineering centres produce prototype and validation packs, recall and warranty returns routed through central teams, and programme fleet retirements. Volumes are lumpy but the packs are often high-value and come with full engineering data.

ItemDetail
Serving siteYokohama — Kanagawa Diagnostics Works (Cell Grading & Diagnostics)
Pickup SLA24 hours
Coverage radius66 km
Collection cadenceCalled off against a framework agreement
Regulatory frameworkAct on the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources and the End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Act
Collection at a glance — Yokohama.
02

How collection works here

We work under a framework take-back agreement with the OEM's central sustainability or aftersales team, covering pricing methodology, EPR certificate transfer and confidential handling of prototype hardware, including destruction certificates where required.

Loads move in Class 9 compliant transport with pre-filled dangerous goods paperwork to Yokohama, Kanagawa, where they are weighed, logged and graded.

  • OEM sustainability and aftersales teams
  • Engineering and validation centres
  • Programme and demo fleets
  • Recall coordination teams
03

What the rules require in Japan

Japan relies on manufacturer-led take-back. Small rechargeable batteries are collected through an industry scheme, and lithium-ion batteries removed from end-of-life vehicles are recovered through programmes run by automakers within the vehicle recycling system. Processors need waste management licences from prefectural governments.

Lithium-ion batteries move as dangerous goods under national road and marine rules, with UN 3480 / UN 3481 packaging.

  • Route packs from end-of-life vehicles through the automaker take-back network
  • Use processors licensed by the prefecture
  • Keep transfer records under the vehicle recycling system
  • Follow export controls for battery waste under Basel implementation law

Field note

Prototype packs may carry unreleased designs, so chain of custody and confidential destruction records matter as much as dangerous goods paperwork.
04

What you get paid and what you file

Settlement is quoted per pack after measured state of health, not by guesswork on age. Modules holding 75% or more of rated capacity settle at second-life rates; the remainder settle against black mass metal content.

Certificates carry achieved recovery percentages and downstream vendor disclosure for reporting under Act on the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources and the End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Act.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Where can I sell or dispose of an EV battery in Yokohama?

Retired EV packs in Yokohama should go to an authorised recycler rather than a general scrap dealer. Our Yokohama, Kanagawa site collects across a 66 km radius on a 24-hour SLA and issues a certificate with every consignment.

How much is a used EV battery worth in Yokohama?

Value is driven by chemistry and measured state of health rather than location. Packs above 80% SOH generally settle materially higher as second-life storage than as recycling feedstock.

Which regulator oversees battery waste in Japan?

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Ministry of the Environment, under Act on the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources and the End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Act.

Do you handle damaged or fire-affected packs in Yokohama?

Yes. Damaged, defective and thermal-event packs are handled under a separate damaged-and-defective protocol with rigid containment and a dedicated declaration.

Turn this into a plan for your packs

Send pack counts, chemistry and approximate state of health. You get an indicative value split, a slotted collection window and pre-filled dangerous goods paperwork.

Run the yield calculator
Keep reading

More on city & regional guides