Where do all the retired batteries go? What are the rules?

As a large number of Lead Acid Batteries are retired, the problems also increase. If discarded or insured batteries are not properly handled, it will not only cause environmental pollution, but also waste non-renewable resources such as nickel, cobalt, lithium, etc., which are used in battery production. In fact, in order to standardize the battery recycling market and promote the normalization of waste power Maintenance Free Lead Acid Battery recycling, China has successively formulated policies and guidance on power battery recycling and dismantling in recent years. In July 2018, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice on the pilot work of recycling and utilization of power batteries for new energy vehicles, announcing the first batch of pilot regions and enterprises for power battery recycling. It is clear that support will be provided in various aspects such as policies, funds and cooperation channels, and various policies from central to local levels will comprehensively promote the development of standardized power battery recycling. This also indicates that China's power battery recycling is gradually entering the practical stage.

Clear division of labour in each link

According to the management regulations of the power Sealed Maintenance Free Battery recycling policy, automobile manufacturing enterprises should bear the main responsibility for battery recycling. Each battery has a unique code, and from the production of the battery, to its use in the vehicle, to its disposal and recycling, the automobile manufacturer must track the use of the battery and report it to the management platform in a timely manner. In this process, there is a clear division of labour in each link.

Vehicle manufacturing enterprises should collect and upload traceability information from battery production, vehicle production, vehicle sales, maintenance and replacement, battery recycling and battery disposal to the traceability management platform, and also submit and publish information on recycling service outlets.

Battery recycling and dismantling enterprises should report vehicle scrapping information and upload battery return information.

Battery cascading utilization enterprises should apply for manufacturer codes, file records according to the rules of battery cascading utilization codes, encode cascading utilization battery products, upload production and output information of cascading utilization products, and report battery scrapping information.

Battery regeneration and utilization enterprises should upload battery receipt information and battery regeneration and utilization information.

Enterprises should accelerate the layout

Under the joint promotion of policy escalation and pilot projects, many enterprises have entered the field of power battery recycling: in addition to professional power battery recycling enterprises such as Shenzhen Green Power and Ganfeng Lithium, power battery enterprises such as CATL, BYD, Guoxuan High-tech, CALB and BAK have all launched active market layouts in the field of power battery recycling.

However, in the first batch of listed power battery recycling companies, only five companies were listed, indicating that other eligible companies have not paid enough attention to the policy. According to the requirements, only companies listed on the white list can engage in the business of power battery recycling. This is also to prevent non-compliant companies from mishandling batteries and causing secondary pollution.

In fact, many companies have already launched power battery projects. For example, CATL has cooperated with SAIC, BAIC, Geely and Yutong, and has also entered into relevant cooperation with Hunan Bangpu; BAK Battery has achieved the capacity to process 20,000 scrapped cars and 30,000 tonnes of waste power batteries annually; in addition, companies such as Super Energy Group, Guoxuan High-tech and CALB have entered the field.

Among automobile manufacturers, companies such as BAIC New Energy, BYD, Yundu New Energy, SAIC and BMW Brilliance have also set up battery recycling businesses at an early stage. This year, many automobile and battery companies such as BYD and Changan have entered into cooperation with China Tower Corporation. Through cascading recycling, used power batteries are processed. It is expected that in the next few years, automobile manufacturers will gradually establish battery recycling enterprises or cooperate with qualified battery recycling enterprises.