Currently, China's lithium battery recycling industry is still in its early stages of development, with no complete industrial loop yet formed and development relatively slow. Ouyang Ming stated that China possesses certain advantages in lithium battery recycling, including existing waste processing plants and recycling technologies.
"This project is related to the company's main business. Once completed, it will meet the requirements of the company and the industry's rapid growth, and is expected to become a new profit growth point for the company in the future," said Ouyang Ming. He added that Ganfeng Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. achieved a profit of 10 million yuan in 2016, and in 2017 it was expected to recycle tens of thousands of tons of lithium-containing waste materials such as lithium cobalt oxide, lithium manganese oxide, ternary materials, and lithium iron phosphate generated in the cathode material industry.
"In the future, the company will pursue a comprehensive recycling strategy," Ouyang Ming stated. "We will not only recycle lithium, but also rare metals such as cobalt and nickel, deeply engaging in the battery recycling field."
In fact, Ganfeng Lithium has always been committed to the comprehensive recycling and utilization of lithium resources. Since the company was established in 2000, Ganfeng Lithium has been simultaneously carrying out the recycling of lithium-containing wastewater.
"Pharmaceutical synthesis reaction catalysts are one application area of lithium metal. The wastewater generated during the production of pharmaceutical intermediates contains lithium chloride. Recycling lithium-containing wastewater not only helps customers solve the environmental problems caused by wastewater discharge, but also expands the company's raw material supply channels," Ouyang Ming told reporters.
In fact, Ganfeng Lithium is interested in the lithium battery recycling sector not only because of its technological advantages, but also because of its potential market size.
It is predicted that 2018 will be a peak year for the recycling of automotive power batteries. By then, China's market for the recycling of used lithium-ion batteries will have begun to take shape, with a cumulative total of over 12 GWh of used lithium-ion batteries and over 170,000 tons of scrapped batteries. The market size created by recovering metals such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, lithium, iron, and aluminum will exceed 5.3 billion yuan. By 2020, the cumulative amount of scrapped lithium-ion batteries in China's automotive industry will reach 200,000 tons, with a market size of 10.1 billion yuan. With the development of new energy vehicles and the passage of time, the pressure on the recycling of power lithium-ion batteries will continue to increase.
While the market potential is considerable, the industry remains unregulated. Ouyang Ming pointed out that the lithium battery recycling sector currently lacks relevant industry standards. For example, it's unclear whether the responsible party is the car manufacturer or the battery manufacturer, and what qualifications and licenses are required. "Currently, most lithium battery recycling operations are small workshops. This disorderly industry development easily leads to pollution and resource waste. We urge the government to strengthen the construction of a standard system for lithium battery recycling and utilization to guide the industry towards faster and better development."
