According to the Ministry of Industry and information Technology MIIT, new regulations will encourage the recycling of batteries through cooperation of NEV and battery manufacturers, echelon utilisation enterprises and scrap automobile recycling companies. Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers indicate that the cumulative NEV sales volume in China in the first 11 months of 2021 were close to 3 million, accounting for 12.7 percent of China’s total vehicle sales volume.
The service life of the dominant lithium batteries is from five to eight years, while the effective life is four to six years. In 2020, about 200,000 to of batteries were decommissioned in China, and in 2025 the figure will rise to 780,000 to.
The following processes will be encouraged:
- use of decommissioned batteries for energy storage and power backup (echelon utilization),
- crushing and extraction of nickel, cobalt and lithium,
- waste utilisation and pollution control technologies during recycling
As to the MIIT, by the end of October 2021 there were 10,000 battery recycling service outlets in China, operated by 171 enterprises
Xinhua news release, December 16, 2021