"In the next 20 years, 50% of new battery production globally will no longer rely on mining. We will also use the battery industry chain as a starting point to further drive the systematic transformation of the energy system towards efficiency, low carbon, and sustainability." Not long ago, Jiang Li, Deputy General Manager and Board Secretary of CATL, outlined the future prospects of the battery circular economy.
During "London Climate Action Week," the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), an advocate for circular economy, and CATL reached a high degree of consensus on the vision of the "Global Energy Circularity Program" — to promote the comprehensive implementation of the battery circular economy and help new battery production completely break away from dependence on primary mineral resources.
The "Global Energy Circularity Program" has released four action guidelines, namely:
Reshaping the value chain system: Empowering the low-carbon development of the entire battery industry chain, re-promoting and transforming the battery ecosystem to achieve systematic carbon reduction and efficient resource circulation.
Product redesign: Designing more durable, easily disassembled, recyclable, and second-life applicable battery products through modular design and the "easy disassembly first" design principle.
Reconstructing business models: Redefining the commercial realization model of batteries, shifting from traditional product sales to new models centered around shared services such as battery swapping, battery banks, and shared fleets to maximize battery utilization rates.
Improving the recycling closed loop: Building an efficient and large-scale recycling system to enable the "recycling and reuse" of battery materials, reducing dependence on minerals from the source, and creating a sustainable supply chain.
Jonquil Hackenberg, CEO of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, pointed out, "The release of this vision marks a new stage where the battery circular economy is moving from a concept to systematic practice."
Jiang Li expressed that we should make energy recycling an economy. The circular economy will unlock new economic opportunities and social values. By driving changes throughout the entire life cycle of batteries, from design, manufacturing, use, to recycling and reuse, the battery circular economy will open up vast market spaces. It is predicted that by 2040, the global battery recycling market size will exceed 1.2 trillion yuan, and the battery value chain will create over 10 million jobs.
It is reported that in the next step, CATL will support the foundation in conducting systematic research on the battery circular economy, exploring transformation paths for the battery circular economy in different countries and regions, and providing replicable and scalable circular solutions for global energy transformation.
