SMM, 28 August:
Since August, lithium battery recycling capacity construction has accelerated markedly: following intensive project announcements in seven provincial-level regions including Ningxia and Jiangxi in H1, Shandong, Sichuan, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Chongqing, Guizhou, Inner Mongolia and Fujian have seen a new wave of project implementation and commissioning. According to SMM's incomplete statistics, more than 15 projects have been publicly disclosed at this stage, with planned annual processing/comprehensive utilization capacity exceeding 600,000 mt. The total investment already disclosed is nearly 9 billion yuan. Categories cover multiple routes such as end-of-life lithium battery pack dismantling, black mass hydrometallurgy, LFP battery cell regeneration, direct cathode material repair and second-life application, and the capacity footprint is further expanding into the northeastern and southwestern interior and the periphery of the Yangtze River Delta.
[Hubei Huanggang LFP Battery Recycling Base Project Signed and Implemented]
Recently, relevant enterprises and the Huanggang High-tech Industrial Development Zone Management Committee in Hubei held a signing ceremony for an LFP battery recycling base project. According to public information, the project adopts a "physical dismantling + hydrometallurgy" integrated recycling process. Its production line construction covers a scrap lithium-ion battery dismantling line, a reduction roasting furnace, a carbonisation production line, a leaching and purification line, an extraction line, and evaporation and crystallisation equipment. Final products include battery-grade lithium carbonate, battery-grade nickel sulphate, battery-grade cobalt sulphate and battery-grade manganese sulphate, achieving a closed loop from scrap batteries to high-end battery materials.
[Sunwoda Tengzhou End-of-Life Lithium Battery Comprehensive Utilization Base Phase I Fully Commissioned, with Annual Processing of 50,000 mt]
In August, Phase I of the end-of-life lithium battery comprehensive utilization base located in Tengzhou, Zaozhuang, Shandong was fully commissioned. The project has a total investment of 1.2 billion yuan and an annual processing capacity of 50,000 mt, can absorb spent batteries from about 60,000 vehicles, and is the largest lithium battery comprehensive utilization project in southern Shandong, with a comprehensive recovery rate of 98.5%. After metal refining, recycled black mass can be directly synthesised into cathode materials and re-enter the company's own supply chain system. The base adopts fully intelligent whole-process control using industrial robots, reducing labour by 80% in operation and handling.
[Jereh Chongqing Lithium Battery Resource Recycling Facility Commissioned, Nine Domestic and Foreign Partners Signed Simultaneously]
The Jereh Recycling Chongqing lithium battery resource recycling facility was officially commissioned. Located in the Chongqing Changshou Economic and Technological Development Zone, it held its commissioning ceremony on 31 July. Its self-developed 2.0 equipment increases processing volume by 30%, reduces comprehensive energy consumption by 35% and lowers carbon emissions by 20% compared with conventional industry equipment. At the commissioning ceremony, it signed cooperation agreements with nine enterprises, including Saudi and UAE enterprises and domestic enterprises in fields such as energy storage materials and electrolyte resource recycling, accelerating both its go-global layout and domestic industry chain coordination.
[5 Billion Yuan Lithium Battery Material Recycling Project Signed in Gulin, Sichuan]
On 21 August, Hunan Lihe Houpu Technology Co., Ltd. and the People's Government of Gulin County, Luzhou City, Sichuan Province held a signing ceremony for investment in a lithium battery material recycling project. The project has a total investment of approximately 5 billion yuan and is located in the Gulin Economic Development Zone. It will be built in two phases to establish annual production of 60,000 mt of lithium-bearing ternary precursors and a 20,000 mt MHP refining line. After reaching full production, it is expected to achieve annual sales revenue of more than 7 billion yuan and an annual net profit of approximately 500 million yuan. The project will echo the company's existing layouts in Hunan and Guangxi, forming a lithium battery recycling industry network covering central, southern and southwestern China.
[Yibin Battery Recycling Project with Annual Processing of 80,000 mt to Start Trial Operation in September, Recycling Capacity "Nesting Locally"]
The Jiushi New Energy project located in the Gaoxian Economic Development Zone, Yibin, Sichuan has entered the final stage of equipment commissioning. One electrode line and one battery pulverising line have been installed, and trial operation of the equipment is expected in early September. After the four Phase I lines reach full production, they will process 40,000 mt of scrap batteries annually. The project has a total investment of approximately 300 million yuan and plans a total of nine production lines (five crushing and sorting lines + four LFP electrode treatment lines), ultimately creating an annual dismantling and comprehensive utilization scale of 80,000 mt. Once the chemical park is approved, it also plans to extend into hydrometallurgical smelting to deeply extract products such as nickel sulphate, lithium carbonate and cobalt sulphate from black mass. In June this year, Yibin was included in Sichuan Province's first batch of regional centre construction list for NEV power battery recycling and utilization.
Looking at the project map in August, lithium battery recycling capacity construction shows three distinct features. First, commissioning and construction starts are proceeding in parallel; the commissioning of the 50,000 mt Tengzhou base and the operation of the Chongqing facility mark the industry's shift from the planning stage to a capacity delivery stage. Second, route differentiation is evident; hydrometallurgy remains mainstream, but differentiated routes such as direct physical repair and targeted regeneration of LFP cells are beginning to be implemented at scale, offering new solutions to the economic challenges of low-residual-value LFP scrap. Third, cross-sector capital and industry chain leaders are entering at the same time; cathode material producers, cobalt smelters and renewable resource enterprises are competing on the same stage. Combined with policy standardization measures such as the repeal of the second-life application whitelist and full-chain traceability via battery "digital IDs", the industry is shifting from "land grabbing" to a dual competition of "compliant capacity + technology routes". SMM believes that, against the backdrop of rebounding lithium carbonate prices driving a recovery in black mass valuations, the scarcity of recycling capacity is being reassessed, but caution is needed over the time gap between planned capacity and actual scrap supply, and over the squeeze on processing fees from the rollout of homogeneous hydrometallurgical capacity.
[Yantai 65,000 mt Scrap Lithium Battery Comprehensive Recycling and Reuse Project EIA Public Notice]
On 25 August, the Yantai Huangbohai New Area Ecological Environment Branch released environmental impact assessment information for the "Zhonglineng New Energy Technology (Yantai) Co., Ltd. 65,000 mt/year Scrap Lithium Battery Comprehensive Recycling and Reuse Project". The project has a total investment of 660 million yuan (Phase I 160 million, Phase II 500 million) and is located in Dajijia Subdistrict, Huangbohai New Area. Phase I will have an annual processing capacity of 5,000 mt for retired power battery packs, 10,000 mt for scrapped lithium-ion batteries, 3,000 mt for scrap LFP positive electrodes and 3,000 mt for negative electrodes; Phase II will increase these to 20,000 mt, 30,000 mt, 20,000 mt and 20,000 mt, respectively.
[CNGR Tongren Base 10,000 mt/year LFP Black Mass Production Line EIA Acceptance Public Notice]
On 17 August, the Tongren Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau accepted the environmental impact assessment documents for the CNGR Tongren industrial base's 10,000 mt/year LFP black mass production line construction project and made them public for comment, with the public comment period from 17 August to 31 August. The project is located in the Dalong Economic Development Zone, Yuping Dong Autonomous County, Tongren, Guizhou. The project owner is Guizhou CNGR Resource Recycling Industry Development Co., Ltd. This marks another expansion by the resource recycling segment of a leading domestic ternary precursor enterprise, focusing on hydrometallurgical recycling of LFP black mass.
[Total Investment of 1 Billion Yuan, Fujian 10,000 mt/year New Energy Battery Recycling Project Advancing]
The Fujian Saibang New Energy Battery Material Recycling Project (Ningde Fuding Long'an Chemical Industry Park) has now obtained environmental impact assessment approval, passed its energy assessment, and completed planning publicity, and is in the geological survey and design stage. The project has a recorded investment of 1.012 billion yuan, with an annual processing capacity of 10,000 mt for scrap power batteries and approximately 1,600 mt for second-life application. It adopts the "acid leaching—extraction—refining—electrodeposition" hydrometallurgical process and will produce approximately 52,000 mt/year of recycled materials, including battery-grade nickel sulphate, cobalt sulphate, manganese sulphate, Co3O4, nickel hydroxide, lithium carbonate and electrodeposited nickel/cobalt/copper. It is expected to be completed and put into operation in April 2028.
SMM New Energy Research Team
Wang Cong 021-51666838
Ma Rui 021-51595780
Feng Disheng 021-51666714
Lv Yanlin 021-20707875
Zhou Zhicheng 021-51666711
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