China drafts plan to boost EV battery, metals recycling

The Chinese government has drafted industry standards for recycling used new energy vehicle (NEVs) batteries, aiming to recycle more critical metals such as lithium, nickel and rare earths.

The new standards, which are open for public comments, are designed to improve comprehensive utilisation of used NEV power batteries, said the country's ministry of industry and information technology on 14 August.

Battery recycling companies are required to "actively" carry out research and development of recycling technologies, equipment and processes for cathode and anode materials, diaphragms and electrolytes. They are also required to raise their recycling efficiency as well as ensure key valuable metals are recycled and extracted via smelting or material repair.

Recycling firms' recovery rates for copper and aluminium should be at least 98pc, with impurities for both elements below 1pc. The recovery rates for lithium should no less than 90pc, while the rates for nickel, cobalt, manganese must be above 98pc. The recovery rate for rare earths should be no less than 97pc. The standards also require that the energy consumption for each tonne of lithium carbonate production should be lower than 2,200kg of standard coal.

Decommissioning power batteries has accelerated in China over the recent few years as the first generation of electric vehicles (EVs) has nearly reached the end of their life cycle. China scrapped more than 500,000 NEVs as of the end of 2022, generating more than 240,000t of waste batteries, according to industry estimates.

The country decommissioned 168,000t of batteries in 2023, a surge of 78pc from a year earlier. Industry participants have called for the accelerated development of recycling for decommissioned lithium batteries. Many major companies in the lithium-ion battery industry chain have invested in battery recycling projects.

Argus forecasts that lithium-ion battery recycling from EVs and scrap from gigafactories will add more than 1.4mn t of cathode material to the global supply mix by 2034. Argus-assessed costs for black mass LFP production scrap were $1,850/t on 13 August, with the costs for black mass NCM811 production scrap at $10,151/t.