The trend of power battery scrap in China is coming to the initial stage of recycling

Posted 2025-11-21 00:00:00 +0000 UTC

The production and sales volume of new energy vehicles in China has ranked first in the world. According to the data released by China Automobile Industry Association, from January to August 2019, the sales volume of new energy vehicles in China was 793000, maintaining a year-on-year growth rate of 32%. With the large-scale promotion and application of new energy vehicles, the comprehensive utilization of waste power storage is particularly urgent. Recently, the Ministry of industry and information technology has revised the industry standard conditions for the comprehensive utilization of waste power batteries of new energy vehicles (hereinafter referred to as the "standard conditions") and the Interim Measures for the management of the industry standard announcement for the comprehensive utilization of waste power batteries of new energy vehicles (hereinafter referred to as the "measures") issued in 2016 and formally solicited opinions from the public The comprehensive utilization of batteries puts forward the requirements of more perfect, safer, more energy-saving and environmental protection. According to the calculation of China Automotive Technology Research Center, combined with the factors such as car retirement life, battery life, etc., from 2018 to 2020, China's total scrap power battery will reach 120000-200000 tons, and reach 350000 tons in 2025. It can be said that the wave of large-scale scrapping of new energy vehicle power battery is coming. "The service life of power batteries is generally 5-8 years, and the effective life is 4-6 years, which means that the first batch of new energy vehicle power batteries put into the market are basically at the critical point of elimination." Zhang Tianren, chairman of the board of directors of Tianneng group, told Science and Technology Daily that normally when the capacity of the power battery is reduced to less than 80%, it will not fully meet the power demand of the car and can be used in other fields step by step. According to the Research Report on the recycling and utilization of new energy vehicle power battery (brief introduction) released by the Ministry of industry and information technology, most of the current echelon utilization of power battery is in the stage of experiment and demonstration, mainly in the fields of backup power, energy storage, etc. In 2018, China tower company stopped purchasing lead-acid batteries and vigorously promoted lithium battery echelon utilization. It has carried out echelon battery backup application in about 120000 base stations in 31 provinces and cities, and strengthened business development in backup, energy storage and external power generation application scenarios. The State Grid has built a 1-megawatt-hour demonstration project for the energy storage system of lithium iron phosphate battery, which is used to receive renewable energy for power generation and frequency modulation. Zhang Tianren said that at present, the retired new energy vehicle power battery mainly has two directions, one is echelon utilization, the other is recycling. After dismantling the discarded battery, the heavy metal in it will be extracted and reused. "In terms of the whole life cycle, echelon batteries also need to be recycled after they are finally discarded." The state attaches great importance to the recycling of power batteries. In 2018, the Ministry of industry, information technology, environmental protection and other national ministries jointly issued the Interim Measures for the management of the recycling of power batteries for new energy vehicles and other regulations, strengthening the recycling management of power batteries, standardizing the development of the industry and promoting the comprehensive utilization of resources. However, the regeneration and recycling of power battery is still a new field, which is still in the initial stage, facing many difficulties and deficiencies. The timely revision of the specification conditions and measures is particularly critical and important. The newly released revised version of the specification and conditions and the revised version of the measures are revised and improved on the basis of relevant documents in 2016, especially reflecting the drive of science and technology to make the traceability and utilization of the power battery more perfect and safer. In the recycling of used batteries, traceability is considered to be a key link. According to the Interim Provisions on the traceability management of new energy vehicle power battery recovery and utilization, a comprehensive traceability management platform will be established to collect information in the whole process of production, sales, use, scrap, recovery and utilization of new energy power lithium battery, and test the performance of the recovery responsibility of each link subject. Zhang Tianren said that at present, China's battery recycling system is not perfect, and no effective cooperation mechanism has been established among automobile manufacturers, battery manufacturers, recycling enterprises and recycling enterprises, and the rights and responsibilities are not clear enough. These systems and measures have played a positive role in enhancing the efficient utilization of discarded batteries. The further improvement of the traceability management of power battery is highlighted in the revised version of the specification conditions. For example, in the general requirements of "technology, equipment and process", a new article has been added in the revised edition of the specification conditions, "it shall meet the requirements of traceability management for the recycling and utilization of new energy vehicle power battery, and have the information traceability ability, such as traceability information system, coding identification and other auxiliary facilities and equipment." When it is mentioned that "electronic components, metals, graphite, plastics, rubber, diaphragms, electrolytes and other parts and materials produced in the process of comprehensive utilization" cannot be disposed of, enterprises are required to "submit relevant qualified enterprises to centralized disposal according to the relevant requirements of the state" and "do a good job in tracking management"; in the "product quality and vocational education" clause, the recycling enterprises are required to From the previous "establishment of a complete traceability system" to "establishment of a complete information-based production process management system", which is also conducive to the establishment of a more complete and mature database of comprehensive utilization of used power batteries. Safety is the foundation of the development of the power battery. Similarly, the revised version of the specification conditions puts forward higher requirements for the safety in the process of power battery recycling. Among them, in the "environmental protection requirements" clause, more detailed treatment requirements are added for "gas" separately, "the residues of inflammable and explosive gas and toxic gas discharged under normal temperature and pressure generated in the process of comprehensive utilization must be pretreated to make them stable and then stored, otherwise they will be stored as inflammable and explosive dangerous goods"; in "safety production, personal health and social responsibility", the "safety production, personal health and social responsibility" clause is added In the clause, a new requirement for transportation is added: "the transportation of waste power battery shall meet the requirements of relevant national laws and regulations, and the battery structure shall be complete as far as possible. Before transportation, it shall be classified according to the safety characteristics of waste power battery, and the corresponding transportation scheme shall be adopted according to the relevant standards, with fire protection, waterproof, explosion-proof, insulation, heat insulation and other safety assurance measures, and Develop contingency plans. " China's lithium resource is about 7 million tons, ranking the fourth in the world. However, due to the poor grade, difficult purification and high cost of lithium ores, a large number of lithium ores are needed every year, with an external dependence of more than 85%; the "Chinese demand" has also driven the price of battery grade lithium carbonate to soar, from less than 50000 yuan / ton at the beginning of 2015 to 180000 yuan / ton at the end of 2017, with an increase of nearly three times, which is not conducive to the development of new energy automobile industry and poses a serious challenge to China's resource security War. Zhang Tianren said that the waste power battery is a valuable "city mine" with a much higher metal content than the ore. recycling valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel can improve the efficiency of resource utilization and reduce the dependence on foreign countries. If the waste power battery is disposed improperly and discarded at will, it will cause great harm to the ecological environment. "For example, the heavy metal elements such as cobalt and nickel in the positive electrode material, the organic matters in the electrolyte, and the carbon materials in the negative electrode will cause serious pollution to the water and soil, especially once the heavy metal penetrates into the soil, it will be difficult to recover for decades." Therefore, in terms of energy conservation and environmental protection, the revised version of the code conditions first proposed a standard for the recovery rate of lithium element, i.e. no less than 85%, and the material recovery rate should not be less than 90% if the material repair process is adopted. In order to avoid the influence of recycling "small workshops" with poor technology and backward technology on the overall healthy development of the industry, the revised version of the specification conditions has upgraded the environmental protection requirements. The newly-built, reconstructed and expanded comprehensive utilization enterprises shall strictly implement the environmental assessment system, apply for emission permits for the construction projects included in the classified management list of emission permits of fixed pollution sources in accordance with the requirements of relevant management regulations of national emission permits; and the online monitoring devices such as waste water, waste gas and industrial solid waste generated in the process of comprehensive utilization shall be changed from the past "encouraged installation" to "required installation" Ready, etc. The revised version of the specification and conditions emphasizes that "production equipment and facilities with high production automation efficiency, advanced energy consumption index, environmental protection standard and high comprehensive utilization rate of resources should be selected, and new technologies and processes with energy conservation, environmental protection, cleanness, efficiency and intelligence should be adopted." Zhang said that at present, the regeneration technology is not mature, the automation level is low and the cost is high. "In view of the weak links existing in the recycling and utilization of waste power batteries, we should organize the joint efforts of industry, University and research, continuously improve the level of process equipment, metal refining technology, energy saving and consumption reduction, break through key common technologies, effectively reduce production costs, and gradually cultivate mature industrial systems."

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