As the "heart" of new energy vehicles, the recyclability, greenness and sustainable development of power batteries after retirement have attracted much attention both inside and outside the industry. Since 2016, my country has implemented a warranty standard of 8 years or 120,000 kilometers for passenger car power batteries, which is exactly 8 years ago. This also means that starting from this year, a certain number of power battery warranties will expire every year.
According to Gasgoo's "Power Battery Ladder Utilization and Recycling Industry Report (2024 Edition)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), in 2023, 623,000 tons of retired power batteries will be recycled domestically, and it is expected to reach 1.2 million tons in 2025, and will be recycled in 2030. Reached 6 million tons.
Today, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has suspended acceptance of the white list of power battery recycling companies, and the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate has dropped to 80,000 yuan/ton. The recycling rate of nickel, cobalt and manganese materials in the industry exceeds 99%. With the support of multiple factors such as supply, price, policy, and technology, the power battery recycling industry, which is undergoing a reshuffle period, may be approaching an inflection point.
The wave of decommissioning is approaching, and the industry still needs to be standardized
In recent years, the rapid development of new energy vehicles has brought about the continuous increase in the installed capacity of power batteries, providing strong support for the growth space of power battery recycling, a typical new energy post-cycle industry.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security, as of the end of June, the number of new energy vehicles nationwide reached 24.72 million, accounting for 7.18% of the total number of vehicles. There are 18.134 million pure electric vehicles, accounting for 73.35% of the total number of new energy vehicles. According to data released by the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance, in the first half of this year alone, the cumulative installed capacity of power batteries in my country was 203.3GWh.
The "Report" pointed out that since 2015, my country's new energy vehicle sales have shown explosive growth, and the installed capacity of power batteries has increased accordingly. According to the average battery life of 5 to 8 years, power batteries are about to usher in a wave of large-scale retirement.
It is also worth noting that used power batteries are very harmful to the environment and human body. The materials of each part of the power battery can chemically react with certain substances in the environment to produce pollutants. Once they enter the soil, water and atmosphere, they will cause serious pollution. Metals such as lead, mercury, cobalt, nickel, copper, and manganese also have an enrichment effect and can accumulate in the human body through the food chain, harming human health.
The centralized harmless treatment of used lithium-ion batteries and the recycling of metal materials are important measures to ensure human health and the sustainable development of the environment. Therefore, in the face of the upcoming large-scale retirement of power batteries, it is of great significance and urgency to properly handle used power batteries.
In order to promote the standardized development of the battery recycling industry, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has supported a group of compliant battery recycling companies. So far, it has released a white list of 156 power battery recycling companies in 5 batches, including 93 companies with tiered utilization qualifications, dismantling companies, There are 51 companies with recycling qualifications and 12 companies with both qualifications.
In addition to the above-mentioned "regular troops", the power battery recycling market with great market potential has attracted the influx of many companies, and the competition in the entire lithium battery recycling industry has shown a small and scattered situation.
The "Report" pointed out that as of June 25 this year, there were 180,878 domestic power battery recycling-related companies in existence, of which 49,766 will be registered in 2023, accounting for 27.5% of the entire existence. Among these 180,000 companies, 65% have registered capital of less than 5 million, and are "small workshop-style" companies whose technical strength, recycling process, and business model need to be further improved and developed.
Some industry insiders have made it clear that my country's power battery cascade utilization and recycling have a good foundation for development, but the power battery recycling market is in chaos, the comprehensive utilization capacity needs to be improved, and the standardized recycling system needs to be improved.
With multiple factors superimposed, the industry may reach an inflection point
The "White Paper on the Development of China's Lithium-ion Battery Recycling, Dismantling and Echelon Utilization Industry (2024)" released by the China Battery Industry Research Institute and other institutions shows that in 2023, 623,000 tons of lithium-ion batteries were actually recycled across the country, but only 156 companies announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology The nominal production capacity of enterprises that meet the comprehensive utilization of waste power batteries reaches 3.793 million tons/year, and the nominal capacity utilization rate of the entire industry is only 16.4%.
Gasgoo understands that due to factors such as the price impact of power battery raw materials, the industry has now entered a reshuffle stage. Some companies have given data on the recycling rate of the entire industry as no more than 25%.
As my country's new energy vehicle industry moves from high-speed development to high-quality development, the supervision of the power battery recycling industry is also becoming increasingly strict, and the industry structure is expected to be optimized.
In March this year, when the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Notice on Organizing the Application for Enterprises with Standardized Conditions for the Comprehensive Utilization of Renewable Resources and the Remanufacturing of Mechanical and Electrical Products in 2024" to local industry and information authorities, it mentioned that "the suspension of acceptance of new energy vehicle power battery comprehensive applications" Make use of standardized conditions for enterprise declaration.” It is reported that the purpose of this suspension is to re-examine the companies that have been whitelisted, and to propose rectification requirements for existing whitelisted companies that are unqualified, or even cancel the whitelist qualifications.
The suspension of qualification applications has surprised many companies that were preparing to join the "regular army" of the power battery recycling whitelist. At present, in bidding for large and medium-sized lithium battery recycling projects, it has been clearly required that companies must be whitelisted. This move sent a cooling signal to the lithium battery recycling industry for production capacity investment and construction. At the same time, this also increases the qualification content of companies that have already obtained the whitelist.
In addition, the recently issued "Action Plan for Promoting Large-Scale Equipment Updates and Trade-in of Consumer Goods" proposes to promptly improve import standards and policies for decommissioned power batteries, recycled materials, etc. In the past, foreign retired power batteries were banned from import in my country. Now the import of retired power batteries is on the agenda, which also releases a new policy signal in my country's power battery recycling management.
In August, the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate exceeded 80,000 yuan/ton, casting a shadow over the power battery recycling industry. According to data released by Shanghai Steel Federation on August 9, the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was reported at 79,500 yuan/ton. The rising price of battery-grade lithium carbonate has driven up the price of lithium battery recycling, attracting companies from all walks of life to rush into the recycling track. Today, the price of lithium carbonate continues to fall, which has directly affected the development of the industry, with recycling companies bearing the brunt of the impact.
Each of the three models has its own advantages and disadvantages, and cooperation is expected to become mainstream.
After power batteries are decommissioned, secondary utilization and dismantling and recycling are the two main methods of disposal. At present, the echelon utilization process is highly complex, and the economy urgently needs technological progress and the development of new scenarios. The essence of dismantling and recycling is to earn processing profits, and technology and channels are the core influencing factors.
The "Report" points out that according to different recycling entities, there are currently three recycling models in the industry: power battery manufacturers as the main body, vehicle companies as the main body, and third-party companies as the main body.
It is worth noting that in the context of declining profitability and severe challenges in the power battery recycling industry, representative companies of these three recycling models are all achieving profitability through technological innovation, business model changes, etc.
It is reported that in order to further reduce production costs, achieve product recycling and ensure the supply of raw materials, power battery companies such as CATL, Guoxuan High-Tech, and Yiwei Lithium Energy have deployed lithium battery recycling and regeneration businesses.
Pan Xuexing, director of sustainable development of CATL, once said that CATL has its own one-stop battery recycling solution, which can truly achieve directional closed-loop recycling of batteries. The waste batteries are directly turned into battery raw materials through the recycling process, which can be directly used in batteries in the next step. According to public reports, CATL’s recycling technology can achieve a recovery rate of 99.6% for nickel, cobalt and manganese, and a recovery rate of lithium of 91%. In 2023, CATL produced approximately 13,000 tons of lithium carbonate and recycled approximately 100,000 tons of used batteries.
At the end of last year, the "Management Measures for the Comprehensive Utilization of Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles (Draft for Comments)" was released, clarifying the responsibilities that various business entities should bear in the comprehensive utilization of power batteries. In principle, automobile manufacturers should bear the responsibility for the installed power batteries. Recycling subject responsibility.
At present, OEMs have also made great achievements in power battery recycling. Geely Automobile announced on July 24 that it is accelerating the improvement of the recycling and remanufacturing capabilities of new energy vehicles and has achieved a recovery rate of over 99% for nickel, cobalt and manganese materials in power batteries.
As of the end of 2023, Geely's Evergreen New Energy has processed a total of 9,026.98 tons of used power batteries and entered them into the traceability system, producing approximately 4,923 tons of nickel sulfate, 2,210 tons of cobalt sulfate, 1,974 tons of manganese sulfate, and 1,681 tons of lithium carbonate. The recycled products are mainly used for Preparation of our company's ternary precursor products. In addition, through special testing of old batteries that can be used in echelon applications, they are applied to Geely's own on-site logistics forklifts. The current pilot project for echelon utilization of forklifts has been launched. After the pilot is completed, it can be promoted to the entire group. By then, it can meet the needs of more than 2,000 electric vehicles in the group. Daily operation needs of forklift.
As a third-party company, GEM also mentioned in its previous announcement that it recycled and dismantled 7,900 tons of power batteries (0.88GWh) in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 27.47%, and plans to recycle and dismantle 45,000 tons of power batteries throughout the year. In 2023, GEM recycled and dismantled 27,454 tons of power batteries (3.05GWh), a year-on-year increase of 57.49%. The power battery recycling business achieved operating income of 1.131 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 81.98%. In addition, GEM currently has 5 new energy waste power battery comprehensive utilization standard announcement companies, the most in China, and has created a directional recycling cooperation model with BYD, Mercedes-Benz China, Guangzhou Automobile Group, Dongfeng Passenger Cars, Chery Automobile, etc. .
Each of the three models has its own advantages and disadvantages. Recycling with battery manufacturers as the main body is conducive to realizing the directional recycling of used batteries. OEMs can benefit from obvious channel advantages to make the overall recycling cost lower, while third-party companies can assist batteries. Maximize utilization of resources.
In the future, how to break the barriers in the battery recycling industry?
The "Report" emphasizes that industrial alliances with in-depth cooperation between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain will help create a closed-loop battery recycling and reuse industry chain with high efficiency and low cost. Industrial chain alliances with multi-party cooperation are expected to become the mainstream model of battery recycling.
Post time: Aug-14-2024