What are the trends in lithium battery recycling

In 2018, the market's power battery recycling volume was 5472 tons, accounting for only 7.4% of the total scrapped power batteries; the digital battery recycling volume was 106,300 tons, accounting for about 63.6% of the total scrapped volume. Compared with the entire lithium battery scrap market, The expected recovery volume has not yet been reached.

The new energy automobile industry is a national strategic emerging industry in my country. With strong policy support and active guidance, it has entered a period of rapid development. According to data from the Advanced Industry Research Institute (GGII), China's new energy automobile industry has grown substantially since 2012, with output increasing from 12,500 in 2012 to 1.2207 million in 2018, a compound growth rate of 114%.

As the retiring period of power batteries installed in vehicles from 2012 to 2014 approaches, 2018 is considered by the industry to be the first year of the power battery retirement wave. However, the amount of power battery recycling on the market has not Did not reach the 'small peak

According to GGII's statistics in 2018, the total scrap volume of power batteries reached 74,000 tons, and the total scrap volume of digital batteries reached 167,000 tons. However, the current recycling volume of power batteries on the market is far lower than expected. In 2018, the recycling volume of power batteries in the market was 5472 tons, accounting for only 7.4% of the total scrap power batteries; the recycling volume of digital batteries was 106,300 tons, accounting for 63.6 of the total scrap volume. %, compared with the entire lithium battery scrap market, the expected recycling volume has not yet reached.

Currently, the domestic lithium battery recycling quantity is far lower than the total scrapped quantity, mainly due to the following aspects:

1 ) The domestic lithium battery recycling channels, systems, and systems are not sound, and most of the used batteries, especially digital batteries, are not recycled;

2) Lithium battery recycling laws, regulations and supervision It still needs to be improved. Although it is clear on the subject of recycling, it has not been strictly implemented;

3) Due to technical secrets or unobvious economic benefits, some manufacturers have The battery has not been recycled and reused;

4) For the battery that has reached the theoretical age and needs to be scrapped, due to cost issues, the car company has not scrapped it and is still in circulation in the market, resulting in The actual total scrap volume is much lower than the theoretical scrap volume, which in turn leads to a decrease in the recycling volume.

Currently, the field of lithium battery recycling is mainly divided into two aspects:

1) For batteries that meet the degree of energy attenuation Carry out echelon utilization (used in the field of energy storage or low-speed electric vehicles), such as lithium iron phosphate batteries, ternary material batteries;

2) For those with no echelon utilization value The battery is disassembled, and the nickel, cobalt, manganese, lithium and other materials in it are recovered, such as digital batteries and some ternary material batteries. GGII research shows that in 2018, the total amount of batteries used for echelon utilization in the total recovery of power batteries was 2,460 tons, and the total amount of batteries recovered and disassembled was 109,300 tons. The field of battery recycling, especially the field of power battery recycling, was used for echelon utilization. The scale is much lower than the scale of recycling and dismantling.

The main reasons for the above situation are as follows:

1) The battery manufacturer’s responsibility system is not clear, Part of the scrapped power batteries flowed into the market a second time;

2) Some power batteries were processed in advance due to other reasons and did not flow into the market;

3) Due to cost issues, some of the truly retired power batteries are still operating in the market and have not been retired;

4) The amount of power batteries that have been scrapped in the past Less, it is difficult to match old batteries;

5) The technology maturity of the cascade utilization field is low, and the energy storage market and reuse market space have not been released on a large scale.

Analyzed by GGII, China's lithium battery recycling market will have the following development trends in the next few years:

1) At this stage, the recycling method of lithium batteries will still be disassembly and recycling, and digital batteries will still be the main body of battery recycling;

2) After 2020-2022, With the approaching of the end-life of power batteries, the recycling of power batteries will usher in a 'peakThe commercialization of 5G is accelerating, and a large number of lead-acid batteries are retired. In the future, the recovered power batteries will usher in rapid growth in the field of cascade utilization, and the market is expected;

4) At this stage , Related supporting policies and battery recycling models are not perfect, and the output value growth rate of China's lithium battery recycling industry is limited. In the future, with the gradual implementation of relevant national policies and the increase in the value of terminal products, some companies will usher in large profits space.