China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) expects the domestic power battery recycling market to exceed CNY 100 billion ($14.04 billion) in 2030, Kallanish learns.

In a recent press conference, officials said that based on battery lifespan estimates, 300,000 tonnes of EV batteries were recycled last year, corresponding to a market value of over CNY 48 billion.

According to Liu Hongsheng, SAMR’s director of the standardisation and technical department, “vigorously promoting power battery recycling and utilisation is currently a key task [for the government].” Earlier this year, for example, the State Council approved an action plan to improve the standards system for EV batteries to enable standardised, safe and efficient recycling and utilisation operations.

The SAMR has also recently published five national standards, including evaluation specifications for recycling technology in waste battery chemicals and terminology for chemical treatment and disposal of waste batteries, improving standards for the industry. To date, there are 22 national standards for EV battery recycling in China.

To reach the estimated market value, the government will continue to promote professional standardisation through collaborations between SAMR and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

“In addition, we are promoting the development of foreign language versions of the national standards, which will further enhance the international influence of Chinese standards and promote the global promotion and application of China’s power battery recycling technology,” adds Liu.

Using its proprietary directional recycling technology (DRT) CATL, through its subsidiary Brunp Recycling, has achieved a nickel, cobalt and manganese recovery rate of 99.6% and a lithium recovery rate of 96.5%, the regulator says.

Source:Kallanish