Focus on the recycling and utilization of power batteries
Editor's note
With the vigorous development of the new energy vehicle market, the importance of the power battery recycling industry is becoming increasingly apparent. The rapid expansion of the market has not only attracted the attention of many enterprises and capital, but also revealed the huge business potential and social value of this field. However, behind the prosperity of the industry, there are also a series of problems and challenges, such as the proliferation of "small workshops", the difficulty of managing the flow of batteries, the confusion of recycling prices, and technical and safety risks. In order to gain an in-depth understanding of the current situation of the power battery recycling industry, the problems it faces and explore possible solutions, a reporter from the China Economic Times recently visited and interviewed a number of individual recycling business owners, power battery production and recycling enterprises, new energy vehicle manufacturers, industry associations and experts to discuss how the power battery recycling industry should develop in a healthy and orderly manner.
■China Economic Times reporter Sun Zhao
With the vigorous development of the electric vehicle market, the recycling and utilization of power batteries has become a hot topic. How to further do a good job in the recycling and utilization of power batteries has become an important issue facing the industry.
China Economic Times reporter recently interviewed and visited a number of power battery recycling enterprises and waste battery treatment plants, relevant enterprises and industry insiders pointed out that the power battery recycling industry to achieve green cycle development, the focus is to improve the echelon utilization system. In terms of regulating the market and strengthening the order of the industry, various preferential policies or R&D projects can be used to encourage and support the technology research and development of the recycling industry, so that enterprises can continuously improve their resource recovery capacity and recycling efficiency. More importantly, multiple parties must work together to explore and innovate related technologies and models in order to open up a new path for the green recycling of power batteries.
01
Strengthening green recycling is key
As the core component of new energy vehicles, the recycling and utilization of power batteries are very important for resource conservation and environmental protection. According to relevant regulations, retired batteries with a battery capacity of less than 80% are downgraded to backup batteries, two-wheeled vehicles and other scenarios, while batteries that cannot be used in cascades are recycled, and valuable metal materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel can be crushed and refined for recycling.
From this point of view, the green attributes of new energy vehicles largely depend on the recycling of materials, especially the cascade utilization of key components such as power batteries and the harmless treatment after scrapping. If the power battery is not properly disposed of, it will bring serious pollution to the environment and increase the carbon emissions of the whole life cycle of the vehicle.
The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of last year proposed to accelerate the construction of a green and low-carbon supply chain and strengthen the intensive recycling and efficient use of resources. Subsequently, the National Development and Reform Commission also proposed to strengthen resource conservation, intensive, recycling, and efficient use when arranging and deploying key tasks for development and reform in 2024. It can be seen that improving the comprehensive utilization level of power batteries will become the key direction to promote the low-carbon development of the industry in the future.
The green recycling of power batteries is the key to solving the problems of resources, costs and carbon emissions. Fu Yuwu, honorary chairman of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, wrote that safety, energy conservation and environmental protection are the eternal themes of the automobile industry, and the rigid constraints of environmental protection force the development of the power battery recycling industry. The recycling rate and treatment efficiency of power batteries will become an important indicator of enterprise market competition. The new energy vehicle industry chain is long, and the green and low-carbon transformation of the whole industry chain is facing great pressure, if the power battery is not properly disposed of after scrapping, it will bring new environmental pollution and waste of resources. The green attributes of new energy vehicles also largely depend on the recycling of materials, especially the cascade utilization of key components such as power batteries and the harmless treatment after scrapping.
During the visit of the reporter of the China Economic Times, a number of recycling enterprises or businesses said that the effective way in practice for the power battery recycling industry to achieve green and circular development is to improve the cascade utilization system. Song Xiangqing, deputy dean of the Institute of Government Management of Beijing Normal University and director of the Industrial Economy Research Center, told the China Economic Times that the power battery after dismantling and reorganization can be applied to fields with low requirements for battery energy density, such as low-speed electric vehicles, backup batteries, energy storage systems, etc. For batteries that cannot be used in cascades, high-value metal materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel can be extracted for recycling. In terms of policy, the most important thing is to strictly control the discharge of toxic and harmful substances from enterprises, so that enterprises can operate in accordance with the law and compliance, and at the same time, we must increase the publicity and promotion of green and efficient recycling, and solve the problem of source pollution from the awareness.
Further promoting the innovation and promotion of green technology of power batteries will also help improve the comprehensive utilization level of power batteries. Liu Jingyu, chairman of China Innovation Aviation Technology Group Co., Ltd., said that to promote the green technology innovation of power batteries and accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of battery products, it is necessary to organize the formulation of industry energy consumption, pollution and carbon emission standards, support enterprises to strengthen the research and development of major key technologies (equipment) such as new materials, new processes and efficient equipment, improve energy utilization efficiency and renewable resource utilization level, improve industry management norms, build a product carbon footprint certification system with unified standards at the national level, and improve green and low-carbon standards, certification, Identification system to promote international cooperation and mutual recognition.
"Through the development of new processes and technologies for the comprehensive recycling of retired batteries and the expansion of the production capacity of retired lithium battery recycling business, we will further enhance the level of industrialization technology and competitive advantage. In an interview with a reporter from the China Economic Times, the relevant person in charge of Ganfeng Lithium said that at present, Ganfeng Lithium has built a number of dismantling and recycling bases in Xinyu, Jiangxi, Ganzhou, Sichuan, Dazhou, Sichuan and other places, with a comprehensive recycling capacity of 200,000 tons of retired lithium-ion batteries and metal waste, of which the comprehensive recovery rate of lithium is more than 90%, and the recovery rate of nickel and cobalt metals is more than 95%.
02
Further strengthen the rectification of industry order
In recent years, the battery recycling industry in mainland China has developed rapidly, and some data show that by 2030, the scale of the power battery recycling market in mainland China is expected to reach 140.6 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 9 times compared with the actual market size in 2022. Data from the China Business Industry Research Institute also shows that in 2018, there were nearly 2,000 registered battery recycling-related enterprises, and by 2022, it will exceed 42,000, an increase of more than 20 times. In order to standardize the development of the industry, in 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the first batch of enterprises that meet the "Industry Standard Conditions for the Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles" (hereinafter referred to as the "white list"). So far, five batches of whitelists have been released, with a total of 156 companies, which are regarded as the "regular army" of battery recycling.
However, the battery recycling industry also has problems such as imperfect market mechanism, difficulty in tracking and traceability, and poor flow of information, goods and taxes. During the visit, the reporter of the China Economic Times pointed out that many retired waste power batteries have not completely entered the formal enterprises, but have flowed to informal channels. Even during the visit, some merchants pointed out that more than six or seven percent of the waste batteries have fallen into the hands of second-hand traders and "small workshops", seriously affecting the healthy development of the industry.
In response to this phenomenon, a report by Guohai Securities on the research of the lithium battery recycling industry pointed out that due to the unimpeded maintenance and traceability of the power battery "ID card", the recycling policy has not yet been perfected, and the qualification requirements of formal enterprises for recycling batteries are high, resulting in the number of "small workshops" in the industry far more than the "regular army".
How to further regulate the market and make the compliance competition of participating enterprises become the key to the healthy development of the industry. The relevant person in charge of Ganfeng Lithium told the China Economic Times reporter that technically, various preferential policies or R&D projects can be used to encourage and support the technology research and development of the recycling industry, so that enterprises can continuously improve the resource recovery rate and efficiency. In terms of industry, the corresponding laws and regulations can be improved to restrict the development of the gray industry chain.
For further establishing and improving the power battery recycling industry norms, Zhang Tianren, chairman of Tianneng Holding Group, told the China Economic Times reporter that it is necessary to strengthen the entry qualification review of white-listed enterprises and increase the daily management behavior of white-listed enterprises. On the one hand, it can fundamentally guide the compliant disposal of power batteries and avoid safety and environmental hazards. On the other hand, it can also effectively avoid vicious competition in the market and guide the healthy development of the industry.
Yang Jianyu, Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman and General Manager of China Mobile Zhejiang Company, also put forward suggestions for standardizing the order of the industry. He said that at the national level, the battery recycling market should be regulated, and actively support and expand market entities with battery recycling qualifications, and encourage all kinds of car companies and battery material companies to participate in the battery recycling industry through special fund subsidies, tax incentives and other ways. At the same time, it is also necessary to encourage and support the research and development of battery material recycling, promote the establishment of industry technology exchange platforms and industrial alliances, and improve the recycling rate of resources. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the rectification of industry order, carry out special rectification of the "black market" of battery recycling, implement mandatory testing for battery cascade use, reduce pollutant emissions and environmental risks, and avoid the occurrence of vicious safety accidents.
"Encourage cross-industry and cross-field in-depth cooperation, such as linkage with power, energy storage and other industries, broaden the application scenarios and market space of retired batteries, and promote the development of the industry in the direction of higher added value. Hong Yong, an expert from the think tank of the 50-person forum on the integration of China's data and reality, told the China Economic Times that the primary task of regulating and developing the power battery recycling industry is to strengthen market supervision, crack down on illegal recycling, ban unqualified "small workshops", and guide its transformation and upgrading or integration into the formal industrial chain. At the same time, through the introduction of more detailed industry standards and technical specifications, set high threshold access conditions, to ensure the overall technical level and service quality of the industry.
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Continue to improve the construction of the recycling system
Recycling enterprises should have an accurate understanding of the electrochemical performance of batteries, have professional material and chemical knowledge, and also master the comprehensive production process data of power batteries, and also master the material regeneration technology of low energy consumption and low pollution. With the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry in mainland China, the demand for power batteries has soared, and the continuous improvement of the recycling system construction and the creation of a closed loop of power battery life cycle safety have attracted much attention from the market.
To further improve the power battery recycling system, Liu Jingyu said that power battery companies should take the lead in planning battery recycling routes from the source of product design, establish an efficient battery recycling system, and formulate standards and specifications for the recycling process to ensure that recycling is low-carbon, environmentally friendly, efficient, and has economic value. At the same time, it is also necessary to give priority to supporting power battery enterprises that have the ability to manage big data throughout the life cycle of power batteries and master the recycling technology of low-energy and zero-pollution materials to carry out industrialization layout. At the same time of battery recycling, we can carry out a circular economy cooperation model of "waste-recycling-reproduction-reuse". In this way, with the retirement of a large number of new energy vehicle batteries, in the next few years, the recycled and extracted materials can cover a large part of the production needs of new energy vehicle batteries.
"The key to accelerating the construction of a power battery recycling and reuse system is to carry out dynamic regulation and precise management of the whole industrial chain and the whole time and space of the mainland power battery research and development, design, production, installation, use, maintenance, replacement, scrapping, recycling, processing, storage and transportation, strengthen big data analysis, artificial intelligence intervention and digital transformation, and improve the resource recycling level of power batteries and reduce the carbon emission level of the whole industry chain through the establishment of a standardized, intelligent and systematic recycling system for power batteries. Song Xiangqing said.
Zhang Tianren gave suggestions from two aspects. On the one hand, a complete carbon footprint database for the whole life cycle of the power battery industry chain can be established. Focusing on energy types, raw materials, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, recycling and reuse, etc., we will benchmark international standards and establish a representative database. Products and enterprises that contribute greatly to energy conservation and emission reduction will be rewarded. On the other hand, it is possible to establish and improve the carbon footprint calculation standard for power battery recycling. Give full play to the role of relevant embassies abroad, track and judge the effectiveness of the international field in carbon footprint calculation standards, management systems and implementation, establish accounting methods for power battery recycling, and scientifically compare the carbon emission reduction effects of battery recycling and recycled materials and virgin materials.
Technological innovation and sustainable development are the keys to the recycling and utilization of power batteries. With the rapid growth of the electric vehicle industry, the disposal of waste power batteries has become the focus of global attention, and effective recycling and utilization technology will play a vital role in environmental protection and resource utilization. In the future, we should strengthen the overall cooperation in various aspects, jointly promote the development of power battery recycling technology, and formulate more stringent standards and policies, so as to promote the healthy development of the power battery recycling and utilization industry and contribute to the construction of a green and low-carbon society.
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Chief Producer丨Wang Hui Che Haigang
Producer丨Li Piguang, Wang Yu, Liu Weimin
Editor-in-Chief丨Mao Jinghui Editor丨Chen Shuhan