The external dependence of lithium resources exceeds 80%, but the recycling system is very imperfect

Reporter: At present, what is the level of development of the domestic lithium battery recycling market? Zhang Tianren: From 2018 to 2020, the country's total scrapped power batteries will reach 120,000 to 200,000 tons, and it may reach 350,000 tons in 2025. But at present, the regeneration and recycling of new energy power lithium batteries is still an emerging field, and the overall is still in its infancy. Reporter: What are the main problems facing the market in its infancy? Zhang Tianren: First of all, the recycling system is not yet sound. Automobile manufacturers, battery manufacturers, recycling companies, and recycling companies have not yet established an effective cooperation mechanism, and the rights and responsibilities are not clear enough; in terms of implementing the extended producer responsibility system, relevant legal support needs to be further refined and improved. Second, the regeneration technology is not mature enough. In the dismantling process, since there is no unified standard for battery structure, material system, packaging specifications, battery residual energy, etc., dismantling is very difficult, the level of automation is also low, and the cost is difficult to reduce; in the smelting process, valuable metals are highly efficient The extraction technology is not mature enough, and the economic benefits are not obvious. Even the income of recycled materials is lower than the cost of recycling and disposal, and the cost is upside down, which restricts the scientific research investment of enterprises. Finally, the incentive mechanism is not strong enough. Lithium battery recycling is at the stage of market cultivation and requires strong fiscal and taxation policies to guide and support. Reporter: If these problems cannot be effectively solved, and the recycling of scrap lithium batteries is not standardized, what problems will it bring? Zhang Tianren: If scrapped lithium batteries are improperly handled and discarded at will, they will cause great harm to the ecological environment. For example, heavy metal elements such as cobalt and nickel in the positive electrode material, organic matter in the electrolyte, and carbon materials in the negative electrode will all affect the water and the environment. The soil causes serious pollution, especially once heavy metals infiltrate the soil, it is difficult to recover for decades. In addition, my country's lithium resources are still heavily dependent on imports, with a degree of dependence on foreign sources exceeding 85%. 'Chinese demand' also pushed the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate to rise from less than 50,000 yuan/ton at the beginning of 2015 to 180,000 yuan/ton at the end of 2017. Discarded power lithium batteries are precious resources. Recycling of valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, etc., can effectively reduce external dependence. Reporter: Do you have any suggestions for this? Zhang Tianren: First of all, we must speed up the development of standards. These include management standards, technical standards, and evaluation standards, such as on-site process specifications for pack system disassembly, and battery residual testing standards. It is possible to encourage localities with industrial advantages to formulate plans and implementation plans for the supervision, recovery, and recycling of new energy lithium batteries, to try first, and to explore a national-level implementation plan that is more in line with industrial reality and more operability. At the same time, improve financial support. Accelerate the research and formulation of fiscal and tax incentives, industrial funds, point management and other policies. It is also necessary to coordinate the existing special funds, and provide financial subsidies for the construction of recycling systems and the scientific and technological research of recycling and smelting. A group of benchmark enterprises and demonstration projects can also be identified. Priority is given to recommending them to declare special funds for green manufacturing, energy conservation and environmental protection. In addition, we must organize joint research to break through key common problems. It is suggested that the state should organize joint research and development of production, education and research through a combination of policy guidance and market-oriented means, and continuously improve the level of process equipment, metal refining technology, and energy conservation and consumption reduction. Finally, it is necessary to rationalize the layout to avoid overcapacity. Based on the principle of 'decentralized recycling and centralized disposalProjects, expand the industrial chain; strengthen planning and rational layout, so as to avoid overcapacity and waste of resources caused by the 'catch up' of recycling projects.