Recently, the executive meeting of the State Council approved the Action Plan for Improving the Recycling and Utilization System of New Energy Vehicle Power Batteries, emphasizing that China's new energy vehicle power batteries have entered the stage of large-scale retirement, and it is necessary to strengthen the management of the entire chain, achieve traceability throughout production, sales, dismantling, and utilization, and standardize recycling and utilization through legal means, and strengthen supervision and management. The meeting also proposed to accelerate the formulation and revision of relevant standards for green design of power batteries, carbon footprint accounting of products, etc., to lead recycling and utilization with standards.

Large scale retirement of power batteries

Strengthening the full chain management of the recycling industry is of great significance

According to a research report by CITIC Securities, the global retired battery capacity is expected to reach nearly 831GWh by 2030, corresponding to a recycling market space of 189.5 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 33% from 2023 to 2030. However, as of the end of 2024, there are over 160000 enterprises in China whose business scope includes "power battery recycling", of which over 40000 enterprises have been established for less than a year. The industry is facing problems such as a large number of "small workshop" practitioners, scattered recycling channels, serious competition for waste battery resources, and lack of supervision.

Strengthening full chain management can not only promote market competition to return to technological, service, and management level competition, but also promote upstream and downstream collaborative cooperation in the industrial chain, and promote the healthy development of the industry. As a "double whitelist" enterprise for power battery recycling, Rikomay has established a complete industry chain of "upstream raw materials core technology recycling equipment independent products terminal market", and has established deep cooperation with multiple leading enterprises. It can provide core key materials and system solutions for the global lithium battery market through a circular economy model.

Production, sales, disassembly, and utilization can be traced throughout the entire process

The introduction of digital monitoring technology is becoming a trend

In the future, the country will create a nationwide unified comprehensive management platform for the recycling, utilization, and traceability of new energy vehicle power batteries, realizing real-time collection and uploading of information on the entire life cycle of power batteries, improving resource recycling efficiency, and enhancing the operational and management level of practitioners. This requires the country to strengthen top-level design, improve standard systems, increase technological investment and operational management, while also requiring practitioners to have digital operation and management capabilities, establish internal information management systems for enterprises, and access traceability management platforms.

Taking Rikomay Company as an example, it now covers a digital management platform for material research and development, equipment research and development, battery evaluation, and battery testing centers. Through comprehensive and accurate data recording and management, real-time traceability of the entire process from battery recycling to use is achieved, ensuring transparency and traceability of information at every stage.

Accelerate the formulation and revision of various standards and specifications

Leading with standards to drive recycling and utilization

In December 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology revised the industry standard conditions for the comprehensive utilization of waste power batteries in new energy vehicles, proposing higher requirements, such as annual R&D and process improvement expenses of enterprises not less than 3% of income, copper and aluminum recovery rates not less than 98%, electrode powder recovery rates after crushing and separation not less than 98%, impurity aluminum and copper content not less than 1%, etc. This meeting once again emphasized the improvement of the standard system for the recycling, dismantling, hierarchical utilization, and regeneration of power batteries, and mentioned the establishment of carbon footprint accounting standards for power battery products, encouraging enterprises to carry out carbon footprint certification, reduce product carbon emissions, and enhance international competitiveness.

At present, Rikomay has taken the lead in achieving engineering mass production of fully dry direct regeneration technology, with a comprehensive recovery rate of over 99.5%, a low impurity aluminum content of 100ppm, and a magnetic impurity content of less than 1ppm. Especially in terms of environmental protection, Rikomay's full process dry recovery technology does not use chemicals such as acid and alkali, has no waste liquid or gas, and can achieve a reduction of carbon emissions by more than 50%.

With the arrival of the "retirement wave" of power batteries, China's power battery recycling industry is becoming increasingly standardized and regulated. 160000 enterprises are entering at the same time, and the market will inevitably turn from a blue ocean to a red ocean in the future. The industry will inevitably face a situation of selecting the best from the worst and survival of the fittest. Rikomay will actively respond to the national call, improve its technological level and product quality, and work together with various forces to promote the high-quality development of the recycling industry.