Nearly one million tons of lithium batteries are about to be scrapped. Where did the used lithium batteries go after they were retired?
In recent years, the market for lithium batteries has been expanding. Corresponding to the growing market size, lithium batteries are also facing a large wave of retirement. According to expert predictions, the total number of scrapped power batteries across the country will reach 120,000 to 200,000 tons from 2018 to 2020, and by 2025, this number will exceed 750,000 tons, and the market size will exceed 10 billion yuan.
It is understood that under normal circumstances, a set of lead-acid batteries can be recycled and reused up to about 80%, while some companies with advanced recycling equipment can even reach 98%. . We all know that the lead-acid battery industry has gradually developed from a small-scale low-end industry with backward manufacturing technology to a large industry with a total output value of 150 billion yuan. Of course, the lead-acid battery recycling industry followed closely behind.
According to national policies, when the battery capacity decays below 80%, it can no longer be used in electric vehicles. So where did a large number of used lithium batteries go after they were retired?
Currently, there are two main methods for recycling lithium batteries:
The first one is the cascade utilization of lithium batteries. . For batteries whose capacity has dropped and cannot be used by electric vehicles, they are used in cascades. The so-called cascade utilization is to unpack the battery packs with reduced capacity, test and screen the modules, and then assemble and utilize them. In daily life, families often use up the lithium batteries in toy cars and put them in the alarm clock to continue working. This is also a simple ladder use.
The second type is the recycling and dismantling of lithium batteries. Lithium batteries that have no value for echelon use are disassembled, and nickel, cobalt, manganese, lithium and other materials are recovered. Come economic benefits. This is also one of the methods for recycling lithium batteries on a larger scale.
In fact, there are still some problems in both the first and second recycling methods. For example, the echelon utilization of lithium batteries, the product models of lithium batteries are too many, and the output is relatively scattered, which undoubtedly poses a greater challenge to the recycling technology of enterprises. Therefore, the recycling of lithium batteries mainly uses the dismantling and recycling method with lower technical requirements, but on the other hand, this method requires a relatively large amount of enterprise capital investment.
At present, my country’s lithium battery recycling model is not very mature, and the industry is mixed. If the large-scale waste lithium-ion battery is improperly handled, it will not only waste precious resources, but also Hindering the sustainable development of the industry will also become a hidden danger of destroying the ecological environment.
Nowadays, electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular. This year, the new national standard for electric vehicles has been implemented. It is expected that the lithium battery market will further explode, and a complete power battery recycling solution and The recycling system is imminent.
Industry professionals generally believe that China’s current new energy vehicles have maintained the world’s number one position in terms of sales and ownership, and that the future market share will continue to expand. It is also a high probability This event provides a broad prospect for the recycling of power batteries. Indeed, the recycling of lithium batteries is a typical double-edged sword. On the one hand, improper disposal will cause environmental hazards, but if an orderly and standardized system can be formed, the recycling of used lithium batteries is also a big opportunity!
