Power battery retirement peak accelerates industry "shuffle"

The profit margins of recycling lithium iron phosphate batteries are not large, and enterprises are obviously insufficient in their recycling and utilization. In addition, the recent metal prices have fallen sharply compared with previous years, especially the price of cobalt has fallen significantly, resulting in the recent efficiency of battery recycling. before.

　　 The "Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Measures for the Recycling of Scrapped Motor Vehicles" (hereinafter referred to as the "Detailed Rules") jointly promulgated by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments will come into force on September 1. The "Detailed Rules" further stipulates the recycling and utilization of power batteries, requiring recycling and dismantling companies to disassemble, collect, store, transport and recycle the waste power batteries or other types of energy storage devices of scrapped new energy vehicles, and strengthen the safety management of the whole process .

　　What impact will the above-mentioned "New Deal" have on the power battery recycling industry in the period of barbaric growth? The reporter conducted an interview and investigation on this.

　　Many companies involved but limited recycling capacity

　　 According to data from the China Automotive Technology Research Center, it is estimated that my country’s power battery retirements will exceed 200,000 tons by 2020, and the market size will reach 17.5 billion yuan. The wave of power battery decommissioning hits, and the market is also accelerating integration. The reporter noticed that there are currently 208 power battery recycling-related companies in my country. The number of companies registered in the first seven months of this year was 41, an increase of 71% over the same period in 2019. Can these 208 battery recycling companies handle the 200,000 tons recycling volume?

　　 Dr. Haijun Yu of Hunan University said in an interview: “In terms of quantity alone, 208 companies are already huge enough to digest 200,000 tons of batteries.”

　　 But the reporter noticed that although my country has formed some specialized power battery recycling enterprises, such as Bangpu Group and GEM, the number of large enterprises is relatively small. Wu Hui, president of the China Battery Industry Research Institute, told reporters: "At present, most domestic companies involved in the recycling of power batteries are relatively small. It is estimated that there are less than 10 battery recycling companies with a processing capacity of more than 10,000 tons per year."

　　 Wu Hui said that the most prominent problem at this stage is that most retired batteries cannot flow into formal battery recycling companies. "At present, the technical level of battery recycling companies is almost the same, whether it is 200,000 tons, 300,000 tons or more, now that used batteries are not recycled by enterprises, but the channels are not sound and unblocked." He said.

　　 Retirement peak brings new challenges

　　 Around 2013, the promotion and application of new energy vehicles in my country accelerated. According to the 5-8 year lifespan of power batteries, there will be a peak period of obsolescence around 2020. What are the effects of the centralized retirement of the first batch of power batteries?

　　 Wu Hui said that the increase in battery decommissioning has a positive effect on the entire battery recycling industry. With the continuous increase in recycling, a benign power cycle is expected to gradually form. "Whether it is recycling or echelon utilization, power battery recycling companies can finally start to make money." He said.

　　 At the same time, the centralized retirement of power batteries has also brought some problems. Wu Hui said that the rapid increase in the number of retired batteries may have a negative impact on the tiered utilization, performance and price of batteries. Due to the rapid development of battery production technology and lower and lower costs, the price of recycled batteries after cascading use is higher than that of new batteries. "The cascading use of old batteries is not necessarily more cost-effective than buying new batteries directly. This is a relatively big problem." Wu Hui said.

　　 It is understood that lithium iron phosphate and ternary batteries are currently the two main battery types used in electric vehicles. Among them, more lithium iron phosphate batteries are retired. After dismantling used batteries, battery recycling companies will extract metals such as cobalt and nickel from the batteries. However, for the recycling and dismantling industry, high costs and poor economy are still a major problem. Wu Hui said that the profit margin for recycling lithium iron phosphate batteries is not large, and companies are obviously insufficient in their recycling and utilization. In addition, the recent metal prices have fallen sharply compared with previous years, especially the significant decline in the price of cobalt, which has led to recent battery recycling. The benefit is not as good as before.

　　 The recycling market is chaotic

　　According to statistics, in 2018, the total number of power batteries retired and scrapped in my country reached 74,000 tons, while the recycling volume of power batteries was only 5,472 tons, accounting for only 7.4% of the total scrap power batteries, and the power battery recycling rate was far from reaching expectations.

Zhang Yuping, deputy general manager of GEM Co., Ltd., once said that the country has been encouraging pilot projects and hopes that the industry will explore business models and jointly build a full life cycle value chain to realize battery recycling-raw material recycling-material recycling-battery pack recycling-new energy vehicle assembly -New energy vehicle operation-closed-loop battery recycling industry chain. "Especially among large enterprises, it is guaranteed that retired batteries will not flow to small workshops, and there will be no strange phenomenon of guerrillas defeating regular troops." He said.

　　 Insiders told reporters that the domestic power battery recycling market is chaotic, and "black workshops" are active, occupying the living space of many formal enterprises. In addition, hidden dangers such as irregular operations have existed for a long time. At present, a complete recycling system has not yet been formed, and commercialization models are still being explored.

Wu Hui said that in order to realize the power battery recycling market from chaos to governance, we must first solve the problem of power battery circulation and traceability. From production to recycling, there must be traceability, the industrial chain must be complete, and there must be a path to investigate to prevent the inflow of used batteries. Unqualified companies to deal with. At the same time, he also proposed that the battery production process should be further standardized, so as to lay a solid foundation for future battery recycling and echelon utilization.

　　Yu Haijun said that China’s current policies, regulations and standards for battery recycling are far ahead of other countries. From a regulatory perspective, it already has a better boundary and a more comprehensive approach. In contrast, the self-development of the market has entered a period of barbaric growth. This process involves both tentative policies and the social responsibility of corporate self-discipline. He suggested that industry access should be downplayed, corporate supervision should be strengthened, and the focus should be on whether companies meet the requirements of environmental assessment process, environmental assessment approval, and operation monitoring standards for power battery recycling. In addition, we must start from the source and strengthen the extended producer responsibility system of car and battery companies, and trace the source from the moment of sales. It is necessary to strengthen the construction of corporate integrity, build a social integrity system, make untrustworthy companies pay the price, and promote industry self-discipline and healthy development.

　　 "Like popularizing new energy vehicles, we should popularize the safety and environmental protection knowledge of retired batteries to the whole society, and improve the safety and environmental awareness of the whole people." Yu Haijun said.