Sichuan to grant licenses for 35 firms to collect used lead-acid batteries

SHANGHAI, Nov 22 (SMM) – Sichuan will issue the first batch of licenses, allowing pilot companies to collect and transfer used lead-acid batteries, in a bid to better regulate the battery recycling and secondary lead industry.

The government has received 35 requests for licenses from 20 cities. If all the requests are approved, the companies are able to collect a combined volume of 900,000 mt of used lead-acid batteries a year, sufficient to satisfy end user demand.

There were 16.67 million automobile vehicles on the roads in Sichuan as of the end of 2018.  Chengdu, Sichuan's capital city accounted for 5.46 million units, which is the second-most across China, standing behind Beijing.

In Sichuan, there were about 400,000 mt of lead-acid batteries that retired in 2018, with Chengdu taking up almost half the volume.

China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) and other eight ministries jointly issued the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Used Lead-acid Battery Pollution at the beginning of this year.

The document stated that the collection of at least 40% of all used lead-acid batteries must be standardised by 2020, and to hit 70% by 2025.