In recent years, my country's new energy vehicle market has maintained a rapid growth trend, and it is estimated that the cumulative production and sales volume of new energy vehicles will reach 5 million units by 2020. At the same time, the rapid development of emerging industries has also brought new problems, among which the issue of power battery recycling has become increasingly urgent.
Data shows that by 2020, the amount of scrapped power batteries in my country will exceed 248,000 tons, at which time the whole society will face a "scrapping wave" of power batteries. It is worth noting that power batteries have complex components, and if they are disposed of indiscriminately, they will cause significant harm to the environment and threaten human health.
Recycling is difficult and involves many problems.
Currently, the recycling and reuse of power batteries for new energy vehicles in my country faces the following problems:
First, my country's laws and regulations regarding the recycling of power batteries still need improvement. On the one hand, the government has not yet enacted specific legislation for the recycling of power batteries; on the other hand, power batteries have not yet been standardized, with variations in battery shape, electrode composition, and casing materials, which poses significant challenges to recycling efforts.
Secondly, the recycling system still needs improvement. In recent years, my country has successively issued several policy documents, including the "Technical Policy for the Recycling and Utilization of Power Batteries for Electric Vehicles," the "Industry Standard Conditions for the Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles," and the "Interim Measures for the Management of Industry Standard Announcements for the Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles." Although these documents have made provisions for strengthening the management of the cascade utilization and recycling of power batteries, researching and formulating recycling policies, establishing and improving the recycling system for waste power batteries, and strengthening industry management and recycling supervision, these policies have not been effectively implemented because they are not mandatory and lack clear reward and punishment mechanisms.
Secondly, recycling technologies and processes need improvement. Currently, my country's recycling processes for power batteries are still in the exploratory stage, and recycling technologies aimed at circular manufacturing have not yet been implemented. Furthermore, power battery recycling is currently limited to waste treatment; research on reuse and remanufacturing technologies has not yet begun, and there are no specific technological measures or equipment guarantees to ensure production safety and environmental protection related to battery recycling.
Finally, recycling is costly and unprofitable. There are currently no channels for the tiered utilization of retired batteries, leading to direct disposal and significant economic losses. Furthermore, battery recycling involves multiple stages, including discharging, dismantling, crushing, and extraction, requiring substantial investment in equipment and labor. Without economies of scale, companies struggle to profit. In addition, the significant differences in battery structures and material systems among different automakers increase the difficulty and cost of recycling.
Establish a reward and punishment mechanism to promote commercial development
In response to the above problems, the author believes that the recycling and utilization of waste batteries from new energy sources can be addressed in an orderly manner from the following four aspects.
First, we should accelerate the formulation of relevant laws and regulations on the recycling and utilization of power batteries.
First, a systematic review and standardization of the structural design, connection methods, manufacturing processes, and integrated installation of power batteries should be established to ensure consistency, safety, and economic efficiency in dismantling and testing. Second, relevant laws and regulations should be strengthened for the recycling, transportation, and storage of used power batteries, and relevant enterprises should be actively guided to participate in standard setting. Third, the power battery coding system and traceability system should be further implemented to ensure information recording throughout the battery's entire lifecycle, improve the accuracy and convenience of monitoring and evaluation, and regulate and guide the large-scale and orderly development of the recycling industry.
Secondly, a management system for the recycling and utilization of power batteries should be established as soon as possible.
A large-scale, efficient management system for the recycling and utilization of used power batteries should include vehicle manufacturers, sales companies, consumers, power battery recycling companies, and power battery manufacturers. The extended producer responsibility system should be effectively implemented, with vehicle manufacturers responsible for the recycling and utilization of batteries when selling new energy vehicles. Regarding public education, methods such as deposit systems and public awareness campaigns can be used to raise consumer awareness of used battery recycling and actively guide their participation in battery recycling efforts.
The recycling of power batteries should follow the principle of limited tiered utilization, assess the health status of the batteries, give full play to the residual value of the batteries, and at the same time recycle elements with high extraction value, thereby forming a closed-loop industrial chain for power batteries, maximizing the utilization of resources and minimizing environmental pollution.
Third, we will increase research and development of key technologies for the recycling and reuse of power batteries.
Develop automated dismantling technologies and equipment for power battery cells, modules, and packs to achieve high-efficiency, intelligent dismantling and improve the recovery rate of metals such as copper, iron, and aluminum. Develop positive and negative electrode material recycling technologies to improve the recovery rate of nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite. Conduct research on lithium-ion battery cycling technologies to provide safe and environmentally friendly process measures and equipment guarantees for their production. Furthermore, establish a highly accurate and widely applicable power battery health status assessment technology to accurately assess their lifespan.
Fourth, promote the commercial development of power battery recycling.
First, detailed incentive rules for the recycling and reuse of power batteries should be formulated, establishing a clear reward and punishment mechanism. This author suggests providing upfront subsidies and tax breaks to recycling companies based on the number of battery sets and their capacity, thereby ensuring the economic benefits of these companies.
Secondly, we need to conduct benefit assessments of power battery recycling and utilization, carry out cost analysis of battery pack technology, and analyze the economic and social benefits of reuse scenarios. Based on this, we should conduct pilot demonstrations of innovative business models and promote valuable circular economy development models.
In addition, we should actively explore the cascade utilization scenarios and potential markets for power batteries, including as power batteries for low-speed electric vehicles, forklifts and other vehicles; peak shaving and valley filling for smart grids; energy storage devices for solar photovoltaic power stations and wind power generation; distributed power supply in remote areas, backup power for communication base stations and household power regulation, etc., to fully explore the recycling value of waste power batteries, realize the intensive use of resources, and jointly create a better living environment.
