New energy vehicles have recently become a hot topic in the news again. At the beginning of this year, seven departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection, jointly issued the "Interim Measures for the Management of Recycling and Utilization of Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles". Recently, they also issued the "Pilot Implementation Plan for the Recycling and Utilization of Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles", exploring diversified recycling and utilization models for waste power batteries that are technically and economically sound and environmentally friendly, and promoting the construction of a recycling and utilization system.
Power battery technology is the core of new energy vehicle technology. In recent years, under the general trend of energy conservation and environmental protection, and with strong national policy support, my country's new energy vehicle development has been booming, ranking first in the world in terms of production and sales. On March 10th, the Minister of Science and Technology introduced that as of 2017, my country's sales of electric vehicles and other new energy vehicles had reached 770,000 units, with a total ownership exceeding 1.6 million units. A significant reason for this remarkable achievement is the continuous upgrading of my country's power battery technology, especially the continuous improvement in driving range. However, it is undeniable that due to various reasons, there are still some shortcomings and even gaps in the field of power battery recycling, which can easily lead to resource waste and environmental pollution. Moreover, many new energy vehicle batteries are currently entering their retirement period, and industry experts predict that the cumulative amount of scrapped batteries nationwide will reach 120,000 to 200,000 tons in the next three years. Therefore, properly handling the aftermath of power batteries is a major challenge facing the new energy vehicle industry and tests the responsibility of relevant companies. For this reason, when the seven ministries issued documents in succession to introduce the top-level design, they particularly emphasized that the extended producer responsibility system must be implemented for the recycling and utilization of power batteries—automobile manufacturers bear the primary responsibility, and related enterprises fulfill their corresponding responsibilities in each stage of recycling and utilization.
The principle of "whoever produces, recycles" clearly defines the responsible party for the recycling and reuse of power batteries. This undoubtedly helps establish a sound traceability mechanism for power batteries and alleviates consumers' concerns. It should be recognized that ensuring this responsibility takes root requires not only continuous improvement of regulations, sound mechanisms, and strict supervision, but also self-reflection and awareness from relevant enterprises. To some extent, the degree of self-reflection and awareness among enterprises determines the policy's effectiveness. For enterprises, on the one hand, they should have a long-term vision. The new energy vehicle market is becoming increasingly competitive, and people's demands for new energy vehicles are rising. Relying on subsidies for survival is not a sustainable development strategy. Producers need to continuously develop core technologies and focus on building a complete service chain from selling vehicles to recycling in order to win the market and consumers. Moreover, the large number of scrapped batteries also creates a huge market; it is estimated that the related market space could reach tens of billions of yuan by 2020. On the other hand, they should have a holistic perspective. The recycling and reuse of used power batteries is a systematic project. Only through cooperation among relevant enterprises and the linkage of the entire industry chain can a relatively complete closed recycling cycle be formed. Imagine if a battery pack was designed to be "rigid" from the outset; once it enters the recycling process, even disassembly would be difficult, let alone reuse. At the same time, we must strengthen our sense of responsibility. Market entities are also responsible entities and should shoulder environmental and social responsibilities, treating the recycling and reuse of used power batteries as a responsibility for implementing ecological civilization construction. They should invest more resources, explore new avenues for industry development, and add more "green power" to Chinese manufacturing.
Currently, numerous companies have begun implementing power battery recycling programs, including new energy vehicle companies like BYD and lithium battery material and battery manufacturers like Guoxuan High-Tech. Recently, 17 large domestic enterprises signed a strategic partnership agreement for the recycling and utilization of power batteries for new energy vehicles, promoting cooperation and collaborative innovation across the entire industry chain. This is a result of policy regulation and market guidance, as well as a reflection of corporate social responsibility. It vividly illustrates that as long as one has a mission in mind, a sense of responsibility on one's shoulders, and a willingness to take action, there are always more solutions than problems. People have reason to expect that establishing a power battery recycling system is no longer a distant prospect, and China will contribute a "Chinese model" to the global development of new energy vehicles.
