1. Raw material recycling
For lithium-ion battery packs that no longer meet current application requirements, recycling can effectively realize their remaining value. For lithium-ion batteries with significantly reduced cycle life, recyclable resources such as metal oxides, organic electrolytes, and plastic casings can be extracted. Resource recycling can effectively recover the cost of lithium-ion batteries, making it highly economical.
Battery cells account for 36% of the cost of power lithium-ion battery packs; if gross profit is excluded, the cost rises to as high as 49%. In consumer batteries, the cost of battery cells accounts for even higher proportions. Within the battery cell, the cost of the cathode material, rich in metals such as nickel, cobalt, and manganese, accounts for 45%. Through raw material recycling, metals such as nickel, cobalt, and manganese can achieve a recovery rate of over 95%, while the recovery rate of lithium is over 70%, resulting in significant economic benefits.
2. tiered utilization
Lithium-ion battery packs whose capacity is insufficient for current use but have a long cycle life can be reused in the energy storage field through a cascade utilization model. Cascade utilization is a highly efficient and energy-saving recycling method suitable for used power lithium-ion battery packs, achieving economic goals by extending the service life of power lithium-ion battery packs.
Generally speaking, when the capacity of a power lithium-ion battery pack decays to about 80%, it will be phased out. However, at this point, the power lithium-ion battery pack can still be used in energy storage devices and deployed in places such as commercial and residential energy storage stations, electric vehicle charging energy storage stations, and telecommunications base stations.
Regarding methods for recycling lithium-ion battery packs, the cascade utilization method generally offers higher resource utilization because lithium-ion battery packs have a long cycle life and better energy storage performance. However, current methods for recycling lithium-ion battery packs are not yet perfect, and the cascade utilization method is not easy to implement. But given the large market for lithium-ion battery packs, the recycling market will also develop accordingly.
