Lithium electricity another 100 billion tuyere is coming! The latest plan of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is issued!

Recently, the power batteries on China's first batch of new energy vehicles have ushered in a "decommissioning period", according to state media reports. In terms of service life, the performance of the power battery decays with the increase of charging times, and when its actual capacity decays to less than 80% of the rated capacity, it is no longer suitable for new energy vehicles.

Relevant data show that the service life of power battery is generally 5-8 years, and the effective life is 4-6 years. If measured according to the effective life, the power batteries produced in 2014 will enter the decommissioning period in 2018. It is expected that China will usher in the peak period of decommissioning of the first batch of power batteries from 2021. By 2020, more than 200000 tons of power batteries of new energy vehicles have been decommissioned in China, and by 2025, the cumulative number of decommissioned power batteries will exceed 800000 tons.

In addition, an analysis shows that "a mobile phone battery with a mass of 20 grams can pollute an square kilometer of land for about 50 years, and larger and heavier electric vehicle power batteries contain heavy metals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese. Improper handling may pose a greater threat to the ecological environment."

From this point of view, the problem of decommissioned power battery recycling is indeed imminent, and enterprises in the global new energy industry chain have an unshirkable responsibility.

Battery recycling is still a mess.

At present, there are two main directions for the recovery of decommissioned power batteries: one is step-by-step utilization, which is applied to energy storage after disassembly and reorganization, or other areas that do not require high energy density; the other is to recover raw materials and extract expensive metal materials such as cobalt and nickel from waste batteries.

In order to ensure the recycling of automobile power batteries, from 2018 to the present, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has successively published a list of two groups of enterprises that meet the "norms and conditions for the comprehensive utilization of waste power batteries for new energy vehicles", which is commonly known as the "whitelist". But the reality is that the "whitelist" can not compete with the "black workshop".

Data from 2018 show that the total amount of power batteries decommissioned that year reached 74000 tons, but only about 5000 tons of power batteries were recovered and disposed of by the first batch of "whitelist" enterprises in the country that year, and the whereabouts of the remaining more than 60, 000 tons of power batteries are unaccounted for, most of which go to enterprises outside the "whitelist".

The fundamental reason is that there is no real recycling system formed, so that the battery recycling market is still cluttered.

Lack of perfect recycling circulation laws and regulations, can not ensure the smooth flow of recycling channels. "car owners can not find or are not sure whether the recycling point is normal, and some traditional 4S stores and other channels recycled power batteries, and finally flowed into small workshops." Yu Puritanism, secretary-general of Zhongguancun New Battery Technology Innovation Alliance, revealed in an interview. Because small workshops have been under the banner of "high-price recycling" and "door-to-door recycling", compared with formally qualified recycling enterprises with low coverage of recycling points, they have occupied most of the market, and some recycling enterprises even buy back batteries from small workshops.

The traceability management system is not perfect. Strengthening the traceability of batteries will help to understand the life cycle of waste batteries, so as to classify the recycled batteries and reduce the recovery cost. However, it is obvious that the lack of traceability system makes it difficult to ensure the safety of the battery after recycling combination.

Prices vary. Earlier, media reported that a Shandong car dealer who specializes in new energy used cars said that a battery could generally sell for 6000 or 7000 yuan. There are also new energy car owners who sold the batteries of their new energy vehicles to recyclers who bid more than 10,000 yuan after "price comparison".

The "cause" of all mankind

At present, all countries are making great efforts to develop the new energy vehicle industry and promote the energy transformation, but behind the rapid development of the new energy vehicle market, the recycling of retired power batteries has become an unavoidable pain point, because the waste batteries are not handled improperly. It will pose a great threat to the ecological environment, and it will become a disaster for all mankind in the future.

At present, countries have formulated corresponding countermeasures, and the field of power battery recycling is expected to usher in some new changes.

In China, power battery recycling has risen to the national level. On December 3, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a circular on the issuance of the 14th five-year Plan for Industrial Green Development (hereinafter referred to as "the Plan"), requiring that it be conscientiously implemented in the light of reality.

The Plan puts forward the overall work arrangement of "focusing on one action, building two major systems, promoting six transformations, and implementing eight major projects".

That is, guided by the implementation of the carbon peak action in the industrial field, efforts should be made to build a perfect green and low-carbon technology system and green manufacturing support system, systematically promoting the transformation of industry to the following six directions: high-end industrial structure, low-carbon energy consumption, recycling of resource utilization, clean production process, green product supply, and digital mode of production. Supporting the implementation of eight major projects, such as the industrial carbon peak promotion project, the green transformation and upgrading project in key areas, the industrial energy conservation and energy efficiency improvement project, the project to promote the efficient use of resources, the industrial water saving and efficiency enhancement project, the cleaner production transformation project in key industries, the supply project of green products and energy-saving and environmental protection equipment, and the promotion and application project of green low-carbon technology.

Among them, the "Planning" frequently mentioned power battery recycling, related materials recycling, as well as the development of new energy vehicle industry and so on.

High-value recycling of renewable resources. We will build a number of large-scale integrated green sorting, processing and distribution centers for scrap iron and steel, waste non-ferrous metals and waste paper. We will increase the proportion of strategic metal resources such as recycled copper, aluminum, cobalt and lithium, and promote the comprehensive recovery of a variety of valuable components. Implement the requirements for the treatment of plastic pollution, implement the standard conditions for the comprehensive utilization of waste plastics, and encourage chemical recycling of waste plastics. By 2025, the recovery and utilization of scrap steel, waste paper and waste non-ferrous metals will reach 320 million tons, 60 million tons and 20 million tons respectively, of which the output of recycled copper, recycled aluminum and recycled lead will reach 4 million tons, 11.5 million tons and 2.9 million tons.

Recycling of waste power batteries. We will improve laws and regulations on recycling of power batteries, explore and promote new business models such as "Internet + recycling", strengthen traceability management, encourage enterprises in the upper and lower reaches of the industrial chain to jointly build common recycling channels, and build a number of centralized recycling service outlets. We will promote the large-scale application of waste power batteries in the fields of energy storage, power reserve and recharging, and build a number of echelon utilization and recycling projects. By 2025, a relatively perfect power battery recycling system will be built.

Cultivate industry benchmarking. Select and publish a list of enterprises for recycling and utilization of renewable resources that meet the requirements of the industry, build 50 bases for comprehensive utilization of industrial resources, and cultivate a number of "leading" enterprises in the comprehensive utilization of industrial resources. We will promote the pilot extension of producer responsibility for electrical and electronic products, automobiles and other products, and strengthen demonstration and guidance.

Focus on the development of green environmental protection equipment. Research, development and application of industrial energy-saving equipment such as high-efficiency heating, energy-saving power, recovery and utilization of waste heat and waste pressure, industrial environmental protection equipment such as low energy consumption, modularization, intelligent sewage, flue gas, solid waste treatment, source classification, process control, end treatment and other process and technical equipment. We will speed up the promotion and application of rural energy-saving and environmental protection equipment such as crop straw, livestock and poultry manure and other biomass gas supply, power supply and agricultural film pollution control. Develop complete sets of equipment for integrated forming of new wall materials, intelligent crushing, sorting and comprehensive utilization of industrial solid wastes such as copper and aluminum scraps, intelligent disassembly of decommissioned power batteries and high-value recycling equipment. Develop remanufacturing equipment such as construction machinery, heavy machine tools, internal combustion engines, etc.

Improve laws, regulations and policies. We will promote the revision of laws and regulations such as the Energy Conservation Law, the Circular economy Promotion Law, and the Cleaner production Promotion Law. We will implement the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental pollution by solid waste and improve supporting policies. We will formulate management measures for the supervision of industrial energy conservation, the comprehensive utilization of industrial resources, the recycling of power batteries for new energy vehicles, and the construction of a green manufacturing system.

In addition, on the day of the release of the Plan, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also held a press conference to introduce the relevant situation of the Plan. In response to media questions about power battery recycling, you Yong, deputy director of the Energy Saving and Comprehensive Utilization Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, replied that in recent years, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with relevant departments, issued policies such as the "interim measures for the Administration of Recycling and Utilization of Power batteries for New Energy vehicles," implemented traceability management of power batteries throughout the life cycle, and carried out pilot projects of echelon utilization in 17 regions, including Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, and China Iron Tower Company. Promote cross-regional cooperation and industrial chain coordination. In accordance with the principle of "emergency first", formulate and issue a number of national, industry and group standards. By the end of October this year, 10048 relevant enterprises had set up 10048 recycling service outlets in 31 provinces, cities and autonomous regions across the country, cultivated 26 echelon and recycling backbone enterprises, and initially established a recycling system. During the 14th five-year Plan period, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will, in accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, conscientiously implement the requirements such as the New Energy vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035), and work with relevant departments to promote the following work:

First, improve rules and regulations and strengthen regulatory constraints. We will speed up the study and formulation of departmental regulations on the measures for the recovery and Utilization of Power Storage batteries of New Energy vehicles, further clarify the specific regulatory responsibilities of relevant national and local departments, and refine the regulatory requirements of all aspects of power battery recycling. Strengthen regulatory constraints.

The second is to improve the recycling network and strengthen traceability management. We will explore and promote new business models such as "Internet + recycling", encourage enterprises in the upper and lower reaches of the industrial chain to jointly build common recycling channels, and build a number of centralized recycling service outlets. Study and establish the linkage mechanism of management and control of power battery recycling, strengthen online and offline collaborative traceability supervision and management, compass the responsibilities of relevant subjects, and improve the efficiency of supervision.

The third is to improve the standard system and speed up technological innovation. We will speed up the introduction of a number of national and industry standards for the recycling of power batteries, and do a good job in the promotion and implementation of the standards. Step up efforts to tackle key technologies such as efficient recycling, update and issue the National catalogue of Advanced and applicable Technologies and equipment for Comprehensive Utilization of Industrial Resources, speed up the popularization and application of advanced technology and equipment for power battery recycling, and upgrade the technical level of the industry.

The fourth is to increase policy support to empower the development of the industry. We will continue to implement standardized management in the industry for the comprehensive utilization of waste power batteries, and set up a number of benchmark enterprises for echelon and recycling. At the same time, we also encourage and guide financial institutions and social capital to innovate products and service models, and support the construction of power battery recycling enterprises and projects.

Summary

It is estimated that by 2025, the recycling value of power battery will exceed 50 billion yuan, and its potential market value may exceed 100 billion yuan in 2030.

Thus it can be seen that battery recycling is a 100 billion-level business, and the market prospect is not unattractive. This has also attracted the whole vehicle enterprises, power battery enterprises have joined in the field of power battery recycling. At the same time, the power battery industry chain enterprises are also taking advantage of the power battery recycling business to actively build a new energy vehicle life cycle value closed-loop system with itself as the core.

More importantly, it can be predicted that as the national level attaches great importance to the power battery recycling industry, the construction of power battery recycling system will press the "acceleration key", market development and ecological environment may be able to achieve a certain balance of development!