A group of Chinese companies, including Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL), announced plans to build or expand facilities for battery recycling, as China, the world’s largest new energy vehicle market, is ramping up battery recycling capacity for sustainable development. CATL will build a battery material recycling facility in Hubei province with an investment of up to CNY32 billion, covering EV battery recycling. Meanwhile, Chinese battery material producer Huayou Cobalt signed an agreement with Farasis Energy to cooperate in various areas, including spent battery recycling. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), NEV sales are likely to surpass 2 million units this year.
According to Tianyancha, a market information provider, by the end of last month, the total number of Chinese companies engaged in EV battery recycling reached over 27,000. The number of newly registered companies in the sector surpassed 20,000 last year, accounting for 78.4% of the total. Decommissioned power batteries in China reached some 200,000 metric tons by the end of last year, the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATRC) said. The life span of power batteries is usually about six to eight years. CATRC said that 2025 will see a peak period of battery replacement, with 780,000 tons of old power batteries expected to be replaced by then.
As of the end of October, 171 companies had established over 10,000 NEV battery recycling service stations in 31 regions nationwide. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) launched a plan earlier this year to step up the building of a traceability management system for NEV batteries. “China’s electric vehicle industry has entered a new stage of rapid growth with the battery industry initially taking shape. It is strategically important for the country to have stable battery resources and a sound battery recycle system,” said Wang Binggang, Honorary Consultant of the China Society of Automotive Engineering and an Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, the China Daily reports.
