Source: Xinhua News Agency

At a press conference on the standardization of power battery recycling held by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), it was revealed that China is about to enter the large-scale retirement phase of power batteries, based on their service life projections. The domestic market for power battery recycling is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan by 2030. According to statistics, in 2024, China’s total volume of recycled power batteries surpassed 300,000 tons, corresponding to a market size of over 48 billion yuan.

Liu Hongsheng, Director-General of the Department of Standards and Technology under the SAMR, stated that SAMR, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other relevant departments, has been actively advancing the formulation and release of national standards covering the entire industrial chain of power battery recycling. These standards provide strong technical support for the development of the recycling industry.

To date, 22 national standards have been issued in China for power battery recycling and utilization. These cover areas such as general requirements, management specifications, dismantling procedures, residual energy testing, regeneration and reuse, lithium-ion waste recycling, and recycled black mass, effectively supporting and guiding the high-quality development of the industry.

Xie Zaichun, Deputy Director-General of the Fujian Provincial Administration for Market Regulation, noted that Fujian Province, as a key production base for power batteries in China, has achieved deep integration of technological innovation and standard development, forming a replicable and scalable model for standardization demonstration.

Brunp Recycling, a subsidiary of CATL, has transformed its self-developed DRT directional recycling technology into an advanced industrial standard, achieving 99.6% recovery rates for nickel, cobalt, and manganese, and 96.5% for lithium. In 2024, the company processed over 120,000 tons of used batteries and produced 17,100 tons of regenerated lithium salts.

Quanzhou Qingneng New Energy Technology Company has established a comprehensive standard system and, in 2024, processed 238 tons of retired batteries, achieving 238 tons of carbon reduction and generating 23 million yuan in output value.

Liu Hongsheng added that SAMR will accelerate the construction of a standard system for power battery recycling and utilization, focusing on areas such as green design, residual energy detection, discharge, storage, and directional recycling. The goal is to further enhance the role of standards in supporting and leading the sustainable development of China’s power battery recycling industry.