The peak of power battery scrap is approaching peak waste battery recycling scale will exceed 10 billion

Lead-battery illegal dismantling, battery solution dumping, etc., in the face of environmental protection difficulties, there are also the bottleneck of the formal recovery company profitability and the market is small, can not form an intensive economies of scale and other issues.

The reporters found that, in terms of industry development, the current power battery processing market, represented by lead storage batteries, is still in the ascendant stage. Safe recycling of batteries is not without a way out, especially in the peak of various power battery scrap including lead-acid batteries. Time.

Its chance lies in that for some companies that have their own core technologies and can recycle waste power batteries, not only can they stop the scrapping of power batteries at the source, but they can also capture the recycling market more quickly; and its challenges are How to curb and combat the illegal secondary battery recycling market. In addition, the experiences of the developed countries in Europe, Japan, etc. in battery recycling also deserve domestic reference and reference.

The peak of scrap is coming soon

"At present, the industry has a promising market for power battery processing, and a large amount of capital wants to enter." Yu Haijun, vice president of Guangdong Bangpu Circulation Technology Co., Ltd. ("Guangdong Bangpu") said, "But a non-negligible problem Yes, the comprehensive strength and potential of the company’s own business model, technology foundation, and other aspects determine how far the industry can go in the future.”

Take Guangdong Bangpu as an example. The number of employees in this company, which was founded in 2005, has increased from the initial 20 to more than 600. At present, the company's total annual disposal of used batteries exceeds 20,000 tons, and annual production of nickel and cobalt Manganese hydroxide 10,000 tons, this is not a small figure in the industry.

Looking into the future of the Chinese auto market, it is not difficult to look through the historical opportunities of the power battery processing market.

At the China Automotive Industry Development International Forum on September 9 this year, Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, revealed that China has started to study the withdrawal schedule of traditional fuel vehicles, and from now until 2025, it should be the most dramatic transition in the strategic transformation of the automotive industry. .

According to an industry research institute, in the next five years, the annual compound annual growth rate of production and sales of domestic new energy vehicles is expected to exceed 30%, which will directly drive the rapid growth in demand for power batteries. In 2015, the nation's power battery output value reached 38 billion yuan, an increase of 262% over the same period of last year. In 2016, the output value reached 64.5 billion yuan, surpassing the scale of traditional digital lithium batteries for the first time, becoming the largest share of lithium battery consumption structure.

Lithium batteries are replacing lead-acid batteries as the mainstream choice for new energy vehicles. At the same time, “the first batch of electric vehicles that use lithium-ion batteries (lithium-ion battery) were mainly started in the market five years ago.” Vice Chairman of China Battery Industry Association Wang Jingzhong told reporters.

The superimposed battery life of 5 to 8 years means that from 2018 onwards, the first batch of domestic automobile power batteries entering the market will usher in a “debris”. By then, the target of the power battery recycling market will transition from lead batteries to lithium batteries and more.

According to the lithium battery research institute, by 2020, the domestic power battery scrap amount will exceed 248 thousand tons, which is about 20 times the amount of scrapped in 2016.

"The number is very large, and the concept of power batteries and general-purpose batteries for daily use are two orders of magnitude." Wang Binggang, head of the national new energy vehicle technology innovation engineering expert group, told reporters that once it is handled badly, "it may be a New environmental disaster."

The power battery recycling industry is coming from this. On the one hand, it is necessary to deal with environmental pollution. On the other hand, we must also face the dilemma that the raw materials such as cobalt and nickel needed for power batteries are heavily dependent on imports. Respondents such as Wang Binggang explained to the reporter that the recycling of the power battery not only solves the pollution problem, but also recycles heavy metals in the battery, and can also support the sustainable development of electric vehicles.

According to public statistics, in 2016, the sales of new energy vehicles in China will reach 507,000 units and the number of vehicles held will exceed one million units. By 2020, the cumulative sales volume will exceed 5 million. It is estimated that by 2018, the total amount of discarded power lithium batteries will exceed 170,000 tons, and the recycling market created by metals such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, lithium, and iron recovered from them will exceed 5.3 billion yuan, and by 2020 it will exceed 100 million yuan. 100 million yuan.

Recycling and recycling of these metals is not only a business opportunity but also imminent.

The so-called commercial opportunities take the Guangzhou Bangpu model as an example. Through the recycling system of its own and cooperation channels, it recycles the power battery. Then, due to its own recycling technology, it turns the metal inside the power battery into a raw material. Used in the production of new power battery.

This mode was called "directed circulation" by Yu Haijun, that is, to enable power battery waste recovery to achieve "where they come from and where they return", which not only reduces the company's production costs, but also helps the company continue to grow and develop.

The urgent need to effectively recover rare metals such as cobalt and nickel from scrapped batteries is not confined to the situation where more types of power battery scrap peaks are approaching, but there are also policy signals from relevant ministries and commissions officials in recent actions and statements.

On October 13th this year, Ma Rong, deputy director of the Department of Circumstances of the National Development and Reform Commission, and other relevant department heads went to Hunan to conduct a research on the utilization of power battery resources, and held a power battery in Hunan Bangpu Circulation Technology Co., Ltd. under Bang Bang. Resource utilization survey symposium.

In response to the small peak of power battery scrapping, Ma Rong called on “all auto companies and battery companies must strictly implement the producer responsibility extension system, and unite battery recycling companies to prepare for the peak period.”

Also need to start from the source

At the same time, Yu Haijun, general manager of Hunan Bang Bang Cycle Technology Co., Ltd. participated in the above-mentioned forum. When asked by reporters about the situation when Ma Rong waited until the company's investigation, Yu Haijun said, “When leaders of state leaders and ministries and commissions visited the Bangpu Hunan Base, they paid great attention to the issue of environmental protection.”

These problems mainly include: Whether the solid waste recycling and treatment enterprises are environmentally friendly in the process of treatment; whether the technology is advanced internationally; what difficulties the enterprise has in terms of battery recycling, which involves the problem of battery recycling, and why they cannot be collected.

In response to the above issues, Yu Nai and other corporate participants gave the following answer: This industry involves many disciplines such as physics, chemistry, materials, metallurgy, machinery, and electrochemistry. There is currently no national research platform in this industry. The companies that do each of them say their best.

The industry generally believes that the recycling of waste power batteries, safe disassembling, environmental protection, and ensuring product quality and reuse technology are still common challenges faced by the industry. It is necessary to jointly establish a comprehensive recycling system, standardized standard system and strong National Engineering Research Center to ensure the healthy development of the power battery recycling industry.

At the same forum, Ma Rong responded by saying that relevant government departments should work together with the upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain to speed up the establishment of a complete battery recovery system and standard system, strengthen guidance and supervision, and avoid the inflow of waste power batteries into small, unqualified enterprises. In the hands of vendors, in addition, we must improve the regulatory system, speed up the promotion of dismantling instructions, battery coding, credit system and other systems, ensure the disclosure of power batteries in the circulation of information and traceability of the recycling system.

Ma Rong also disclosed that in the “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan”, the state emphasized the recycling of solid waste. In the later stages, the government will announce the policies for the dismantling and testing of power batteries and technical requirements for recycling.

Recycling batteries is also a matter that Japan attaches great importance to and implements for decades. According to statistics, since October 1994, Japan’s battery production and sales companies have formed a “battery production and sales-recycling-recycling” battery recycling system. Battery retailers, car dealers and gas stations can all be free from consumers. Waste batteries are recycled there.

With regard to the recovery of vehicle power batteries that has gradually attracted attention in recent years, the Japanese car makers' actions are also worth noting.

Take Toyota Motor as an example. In 2011, it cooperated with Sumitomo Metal to launch a project to recover nickel-metal hydride batteries in Japan. With Sumitomo Metal's high-purity extraction technology, 50% of the nickel in the battery pack can be recovered, which in turn enables hybrid power. The use of nickel in car batteries has been used for many times. In 2012, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. cooperated with Japan Heavy Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. and deployed a production line that can recover 80% of rare earth metals for the manufacture of new nickel-metal hydride batteries.

In respect of subsidy applications, some business respondents told reporters that at present, many companies apply for corporate subsidies from the local government. This is understandable for some time. However, if they rely on subsidies for a long time, they are not good for the healthy development of the entire industry. Only with self-hematopoiesis can an industry be formed, and the industry can have the future.

In addition, the industry is more concerned about how to contain and combat the illegal second-hand recycling market, which is also a technical problem.

Tian Tianren, chairman of Tianneng Group, said that because there is no responsibility for environmental protection and taxation, illegal recycling, production and recycling have formed a certain scale, and there is growing momentum.

This is evident in the online search. When reporters entered keywords such as "Power Battery Recycling" on the Internet, many pages appearing on the page flaunting the "High-Price Acquisition of Power Battery", and the contact information and address of the merchant were left on the website. The reporter then contacted several companies at random with the identity of those who sold used batteries. In the negotiations, the other party quickly stated that the scrapped batteries "have received as much as possible" and "as much as possible."

However, when a reporter asked them how they would handle these received power batteries, the response was always "you don't need to know" or simply did not reply. When a reporter stated that he was willing to send used batteries to the factory of the other party, “Our factory is very remote and you can't find it.” A businessman replied.

What are the mature practices of overseas battery recycling? For the overseas developed countries, perhaps the German deposit system is a good choice. Its scope of application is toxic nickel-cadmium batteries and mercury-containing batteries. Consumers buy a certain deposit in each battery, when consumers take it. When the used batteries are replaced, the deposit will be automatically deducted from the price. In addition, in Germany, consumers send used batteries to a store or a waste recycling station, and the other party must accept waste batteries unconditionally and transfer them to a processing factory for recycling.

In terms of legal constraints and support, there should also be greater domestic action. Respondents such as Wang Binggang believe that domestic policies and technical standards have been formulated. All of them are guiding or recommended guidance documents. They all have a reference role for regular power battery recycling companies, but it is difficult for informal traders to To this effect, the state should introduce laws and regulations that have sufficient support, binding force, and coercive power.