At the consultative symposium on “Accelerating the Establishment of a Recycling and Utilization System for Renewable Resources in the New Energy Industry” held by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on November 10, Ong Zuliang, a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC, Party Secretary and Chairman of China Minmetals Corporation, highlighted two major challenges.

First, how can retired batteries from new-energy vehicles be recycled and reused? From the perspective of ensuring resource security, once retired batteries from overseas are returned, how should they be utilized—and what measures should be put in place to guarantee their safe and effective use?

Weng Zuliang presented the following set of data: Over the past five years, global new-energy vehicles have experienced rapid growth, driving up consumption of lithium, nickel, and cobalt for new-energy batteries by approximately 500%, 400%, and 150%, respectively. By 2035, it is projected that demand for lithium, nickel, and cobalt from new-energy batteries will increase by more than 600%, 300%, and 50%, respectively, compared to 2022 levels. At the same time, China’s reliance on foreign sources remains high: its dependence on foreign imports for lithium reaches 75%, while for nickel and cobalt, it exceeds 90%.

Another challenge is that currently, less than 25% of domestically discarded batteries are flowing into companies listed on the “whitelist.” Meanwhile, imported used batteries and their processed powders from overseas are completely banned, making it impossible for them to be returned.

Weng Zuliang suggested integrating the utilization of recycled resources with primary resources, and establishing a platform and system for the recycling and reuse of waste batteries. Waste batteries should be included in hazardous waste management, subject to stringent licensing requirements, and strictly prohibited from being illegally or non-compliantly collected and handled. Furthermore, the management of imported waste batteries from new energy sources should be optimized by developing legal and regulatory frameworks, quality supervision measures, and detailed operational guidelines for the import of waste battery resources. At the same time, standards for identifying waste battery powders and customs commodity codes should be refined to ensure the efficient return of overseas resources.

At the meeting, Song Hailiang, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Party Secretary and Chairman of China Energy Engineering Group, said: “Currently, the field of renewable resource recycling and utilization is characterized by three prominent contradictions: low industry entry barriers, scattered and low-level resource investment, and low economic returns. Moreover, state-owned enterprises generally face two major challenges in disposing of their retired equipment assets—difficulties in valuation and disposal. It is urgently necessary to break through these bottlenecks by strengthening the responsibility system and innovating business models, and to achieve closed-loop business models through exemplary projects, thereby generating a demonstration and scaling-up effect.”

Song Hailiang suggested that, centered on the fields of photovoltaic, wind power, and energy storage equipment, we should as soon as possible establish and improve a “four-in-one” responsibility system involving the government, power generation enterprises, equipment manufacturers, and recycling companies, thereby creating a long-term, synergistic mechanism and an organic chain of responsibilities. We should promptly remove institutional barriers to ensure that state-owned enterprises effectively fulfill their primary responsibilities—for instance, by focusing on the challenge of valuation difficulties, we should quickly optimize the methods for assessing the residual value of decommissioned new-energy equipment and establish a standardized system for asset valuation. Similarly, addressing the difficulty in disposal, we should accelerate the refinement of management measures for the disposal of state-owned assets from decommissioned new-energy equipment, ensuring that retired equipment is disposed of in an orderly, effective, and highly efficient manner. In addition, we must innovate and optimize business models, bridge the “last-mile” gap in recycling and utilization, focus on addressing critical bottlenecks in the industrial chain related to “recycling, cascade utilization, and material regeneration,” and encourage enterprises with the necessary conditions to take the lead in pilot programs, thereby developing a number of regional recycling bases and exemplary demonstration projects.

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