Following the introduction of relevant national policies, a system for recycling automotive power batteries is being gradually established. As the penetration rate of new energy vehicles increases daily, relevant government departments have begun to introduce policies clarifying the responsible parties for power batteries and the establishment of a recycling system.
Secondary utilization and dismantling/recycling are used to build a closed-loop industrial chain. For automotive power batteries with large capacity and complex structure, there are currently two recycling methods: secondary utilization and dismantling/recycling.
First, there's the tiered utilization. Generally, automotive power batteries are scrapped when their capacity drops to 80%. However, at this point, the batteries can still be used in energy storage, electric two-wheelers, and telecommunications base stations. Tiered utilization maximizes the lifespan of automotive batteries and improves their economic efficiency.
Secondly, dismantling and recycling. For batteries with short cycle life, the metal compounds, electrolytes, and plastic casings can be extracted, which avoids environmental pollution and realizes the reuse of scarce metal resources.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries have significant potential for reuse due to their good safety profile and long cycle life, retaining considerable value even after retirement. It is estimated that, considering various energy storage battery usage methods, retired LFP batteries can still be used as energy storage batteries for at least another five years. However, calculations show that LFP batteries contain approximately 4% lithium, resulting in relatively low recycling value; currently, their recycling cost is lower than the cost of reuse for energy storage.
Ternary lithium batteries offer significant overall benefits from dismantling and recycling. While ternary lithium batteries pose certain safety risks and have a shorter cycle life, their cathode materials contain substantial amounts of nickel, cobalt, and manganese, at 12%, 3%, and 5% respectively, totaling 47% metal content. Furthermore, they are easily reductive. Compared to lithium iron phosphate batteries, ternary lithium batteries possess considerable dismantling and recycling value.
The lithium battery recycling process is quite complex, involving packaging or pickup, transportation and recycling service points, dismantling, cutting, and secondary use or recycling. Different companies use different battery models, making automated dismantling difficult, and the batteries themselves are still under high voltage, posing a certain degree of danger.
