[interview to the two sessions] Deputy Zhang Tianren: support the recycling of lithium batteries and promote the development of circular economy

This year's government work report mentions the main objectives and major tasks of economic and social development during the 14th five-year Plan period, including promoting green development, promoting harmonious symbiosis between man and nature, and requiring speeding up the green transformation of the mode of development. coordinate to promote high-quality economic development and a high level of protection of the ecological environment. As an entrepreneur in the new energy battery industry, I feel deeply responsible. " Zhang Tianren, deputy to the National people's Congress and secretary of the party committee and chairman of Tianneng holding Group, said in an interview with reporters.

The development of new energy vehicles is the only way for our country to move from a big automobile country to an automobile power, and it is also a strategic measure to deal with climate change and promote green development. During the 13th five-year Plan period, China's new energy vehicle industry developed rapidly, from the industrial training period to the development period. In 2020, the production and sales of new energy vehicles were 1.366 million and 1.367 million respectively, ranking first in the world for six consecutive years, with a cumulative promotion of more than 6 million vehicles, accounting for more than half of the world. In the Development Plan of New Energy vehicle Industry (2021-2035) issued by the General Office of the State Council, it is pointed out that the sales of new energy vehicles will reach about 20% of the total new car sales in 2025, and pure electric vehicles will become the mainstream of new sales vehicles in 2035. Vehicles in the public domain are fully electrified.

Industrial development has led to technological progress, and new breakthroughs have been made in key areas such as batteries, motors and electronic control of new energy vehicles in China, especially the technical level of power batteries has been in the forefront of the world, and the mileage of mass-produced models has reached more than 500 kilometers. it is increasingly recognized by consumers. Zhang Tianren said that the new energy vehicle industry is bursting with great vitality, which not only injects strong new momentum into China's economic growth, but also provides strong support for promoting green development.

"the service life of new energy-powered lithium batteries is generally 5 to 8 years, and the effective life is 4 to 6 years. At present, the first batch of power lithium batteries put on the market have entered the decommissioning period. Therefore, at the two sessions this year, I brought "suggestions on further supporting the recycling of power lithium batteries to promote circular economy". " Zhang Tianren told reporters. According to the data of China Automotive Technology Research Center, the cumulative decommissioning of power batteries in China will exceed 200000 tons (about 25GWh) in 2020, and this number will grow exponentially in the next few years, and the cumulative decommissioning is expected to be about 780000 tons (about 116GWh) by 2025. Some of these decommissioned lithium batteries are used as energy storage power sources such as telecom base stations, while some completely scrapped lithium batteries enter the recycling system to disassemble and refine the precious metal materials for recycling.

Zhang Tianren believes that it is of great significance to strengthen the comprehensive utilization and recycling of waste power batteries.

First of all, it is conducive to the protection of the ecological environment. The heavy metal elements such as cobalt and nickel in the cathode material of lithium battery, the acidic organic matter in the electrolyte and the carbon material in the negative electrode will cause serious pollution to the water body and soil if they are disposed of improperly and discarded at will. In particular, once heavy metals infiltrate into the soil, it is difficult to recover for decades, thus causing great harm to the ecological environment. Only by strengthening the whole life cycle management, especially the recycling after the battery is scrapped, can we give full play to the environmental protection effect of this green product and consolidate the achievements in the construction of ecological civilization.

Secondly, it is conducive to ensuring the security of resources. The proved reserves of lithium resources in China are the second in the world, but about 90% of the lithium resources are distributed in the western region, the grade is low, and the magnesium content in lithium brine is high. Restricted by the production process, it is still unable to achieve large-scale production. A large number of battery-grade lithium carbonate and high-purity lithium carbonate need to be imported every year. In 2020, a total of 50102 tons of lithium carbonate were imported, an increase of 71% over the same period last year, and the degree of external dependence reached 75%. The import dependence of nickel is more than 80%, and the import dependence of cobalt is as high as 97%. This is not only not conducive to the healthy development of lithium battery industry, but also poses a serious challenge to the resource security of our country. The scrapped power lithium battery is a valuable "urban mine", and its metal content is much higher than that of ore. The recovery and recycling of valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel can improve the efficiency of resource utilization and reduce imports. Ensure the safety of the national resources strategy.

"the state attaches great importance to the recycling of power lithium batteries." Zhang Tianren sighed. In January 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other ministries jointly issued the interim measures for the Management of Recycling and Utilization of Power batteries for New Energy vehicles, proposing to "strengthen the management of the recovery and utilization of power batteries for new energy vehicles, standardize the development of the industry, and promote the comprehensive utilization of resources". In July 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the interim regulations on traceability Management of New Energy vehicle Power Battery recovery and Utilization, and proposed the establishment of a "traceability comprehensive management platform" to collect information on the whole process of production, sales, use, scrapping, recycling and utilization of new energy lithium batteries, and detect the performance of recycling responsibilities by the main body of each link. In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also issued the "industry norms and conditions for the comprehensive utilization of waste power batteries for new energy vehicles", commonly known as the "whitelist" in the industry. So far, a total of 27 enterprises in two batches have entered the "whitelist". "these institutional measures have played a positive role in standardizing the order of the industry and improving the comprehensive and efficient utilization of waste power batteries." He said.

The standardized enterprises that enter the "whitelist" of recycling and disposal, on the one hand, actively implement the extended producer responsibility system, extensively establish recycling networks, collect waste batteries, and on the other hand, strengthen scientific and technological research and development to improve the technical level of disposal. Zhang Tianren told reporters that standardizing the process of business development, enterprises are faced with three major challenges and pressures: not getting old batteries, not getting entry tickets, and not earning back the cost.

On this basis, Zhang Tianren suggested that, first, strictly recover the entry threshold for recycling enterprises and support "whitelist" enterprises to become bigger and stronger; second, in view of the lack of input tickets for standardized recycling enterprises, it is suggested to give tax deductions; third, it is suggested to provide policy subsidies to compliant lithium iron phosphate recycling enterprises.

In recent years, under the guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping's theory that green water and green mountains are Jinshan and Silver Mountains, Tianneng Group has raised the green ecological flag, played the intelligent manufacturing card, followed the path of circular development, deepened transformation and reform, and achieved high-quality development. Next, Tianneng Group will continue to play a leading role in leading enterprises, promote the green and sustainable development of the industry, and contribute to the new progress in the construction of ecological civilization and the modernization of harmonious symbiosis between man and nature. " Zhang Tianren told reporters.