【SMM analysis】 Lithium Battery Recycling Gains Momentum: Major Projects Accelerate Nationwide

SMM July 31 News:

With the booming development of the new energy vehicle industry, China's first wave of power batteries has entered a large-scale retirement phase. Industry forecasts indicate that the national retired power battery volume will exceed 1.5 million tons in 2026, spawning a recycling market worth hundreds of billions of RMB. Recently, lithium battery recycling projects have been intensively launched across multiple regions nationwide, covering every link of the industrial chain — from dismantling and crushing to hydrometallurgy, from cascade utilization to material regeneration.

Jiangxi: Dual Projects Advance in Tandem, Building a Recycling Hub

Jiangxi Province has been particularly active. A 15,000-ton/year spent LFP battery expansion project in Xiajiang County, with a total investment of RMB 30 million, has received proposed EIA approval. Using spent LFP battery cells as raw material, it adopts cutting, primary crushing, drying pyrolysis, and screening processes, yielding 8,878 tons of LFP battery powder, 1,500 tons of copper foil, and 1,143 tons of aluminum foil annually.

Simultaneously, an 18,000-ton/year waste new energy battery comprehensive utilization project in Pingxiang Economic and Technological Development Zone, with a total investment of RMB 34 million, has entered its first EIA announcement phase. It constructs one new waste battery comprehensive utilization production line equipped with 136 pieces of equipment including capacity grading, battery dismantling, and dust removal systems.

Additionally, a 10,000-ton waste power battery comprehensive utilization project in Longnan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Ganzhou, has also entered its first EIA announcement, building a waste power battery pack resource utilization production line that will yield 8,000 tons of modules meeting reuse standards and 2,000 tons of hardware materials annually, further consolidating Jiangxi's core position in the national lithium battery recycling landscape.

Guangdong: Dual Engines Drive Greater Bay Area Recycling Network

Guangdong Province, accounting for approximately 20% of national new energy vehicle production and sales, leads all provinces in retired battery volume. In Jieyang, a 35,000-ton/year waste LIB comprehensive recycling production line project has recently received construction planning verification, with dismantling and extraction workshops, warehouses, and supporting facilities.

Even more notably, a retired power battery and waste LIB comprehensive utilization project with a total investment of RMB 1.22 billion has been accepted for review in Huadu District, Guangzhou. Located in Chini Industrial Park, the project constructs a new energy storage smart manufacturing center, a 60,000-ton/year retired power battery comprehensive utilization and dismantling center, and a 50,000-vehicle/year new energy scrapped vehicle dismantling center. Upon completion, annual output value will exceed RMB 1.3 billion, with annual carbon emission reduction reaching 1.03 million tons, making it a benchmark project in the Greater Bay Area recycling chain.

Hebei Handan: 20k-ton Cascade Utilization and Recycling Project Advances

In Jinan New Area, Handan, Hebei, a waste LIB cascade utilization and recycling project (Phase I) with a total investment of RMB 20 million has received proposed EIA approval. Located in Herun Small & Micro Industrial Park, it constructs two LIB cascade utilization and pre-treatment production lines with feeding systems, conveyor belts, condensers, cell testing machines, and vacuum pumps, achieving an annual processing capacity of 20,000 tons of waste LIBs — adding another key link to the retired battery recycling network in North China.

Hubei Huanggang: LFP Battery Circular Base Project Signed

The Huanggang High-tech Industrial Development Zone in Hubei has officially signed an LFP battery circular base project. The project adopts a combined "physical dismantling + hydrometallurgy" recycling process, with production lines covering waste LIB dismantling, reduction roasting furnaces, carbonization, leaching and purification, extraction, and evaporative crystallization equipment. Final products include battery-grade lithium carbonate, nickel sulfate, cobalt sulfate, and manganese sulfate, achieving closed-loop recycling from waste batteries to high-end battery materials and completing the full green chain of "recycling — regeneration — reproduction."

Conclusion

From Xiajiang in Jiangxi to Jieyang in Guangdong, from Handan in Hebei to Huanggang in Hubei, this wave of intensively launched lithium battery recycling projects reflects how China's power battery recycling industry is transitioning from "wild growth" toward a new stage of standardization, scale, and high-value utilization. The formal implementation of the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Recycling and Comprehensive Utilization of New Energy Vehicle Waste Power Batteries" in 2026 has further solidified producer responsibility, driving the industry's transformation from "policy-driven" to "policy + market dual-wheel-driven." When waste batteries are no longer "waste" but "urban mines," when the closed loop of "production — usage — recycling — regeneration — reproduction" truly runs through, the golden age of the lithium battery recycling industry has only just begun.