In the battery graveyard, even CATL can't outperform small workshops.

The new energy vehicle market is developing at breakneck speed. If you sold 10,000 vehicles today, we might sell 40,000 tomorrow. When we look at the sales rankings of various automakers, it feels like we're looking at astronomical figures.

Moreover, the combined achievements of all players are also very impressive. In 2024, out of the 18.236 million new energy vehicles sold globally, China contributed 70%.

But when seeing these figures, Chaping Jun suddenly wondered, with so many new energy vehicles sold, where do the used batteries go?

You know, our country stipulates that when the power battery capacity of a new energy vehicle decays to 80%, it can no longer be used.

According to data from the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, in 2023, the total amount of retired power batteries in China exceeded 580,000 tons. Moreover, as time goes on, there will be more retired power batteries. It is estimated that by 2030, the scale of the power battery recycling market will exceed 100 billion yuan.

Isn't this a once - in - a - lifetime opportunity? The emerging market worth hundreds of billions has become a blue ocean where the early birds catch the worms.

Fearing that this industry was too complex, Chaping Jun used some connections and asked a professional friend in material recycling around him.

The friend told us that their enterprise has already adopted the third - generation hydrometallurgical technology in battery recycling, achieving a 95% recovery rate. The cost has also been significantly reduced. In the early days, the cost of recycling nickel and cobalt per ton was 60,000 - 70,000 yuan, but now it's only 5,000 - 10,000 yuan.

Moreover, after a simple understanding, Chaping Jun found that this industry doesn't seem to be overly competitive yet.

In 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched a "List of Enterprises Meeting the Standard Conditions" for the battery recycling industry, also known as the "White List" in the industry. Simply put, it's an approval of your recycling ability.

However, the quota for this list has always been given very cautiously. From 2018 to 2024, only 156 enterprises were selected in total.

That is to say, the competition in this market isn't very fierce at present?

Just when Chaping Jun thought he had found a good business opportunity, Lao Wang, an employee who had worked in a white - listed enterprise for 4 years and whom he accidentally met, told him to stop immediately.

He complained about the entire industry from top to bottom and even exposed all kinds of shady operations of his own company...

First of all, this industry is not easy to operate now.

Because not only white - listed enterprises can engage in battery recycling. So, this market is already crowded with people.

Actually, it was quite profitable to engage in power battery recycling a long time ago. Around 2019, a batch of batteries purchased for 3 million yuan could yield a net profit of 700,000 - 800,000 yuan after processing.

Later, around 2021, due to the sky - rocketing prices of lithium, cobalt, and nickel, the battery recycling industry took off.

In early 2021, the price of battery - grade lithium carbonate was 53,000 yuan per ton. By November 2022, it had soared to 610,000 yuan per ton. It increased by more than 10 times in just two years.

This directly led to a 635% surge in the number of power battery recycling companies in 2021. The growth curve of the number of companies almost became a 90 - degree angle.

Don't be deceived by the small number of white - listed enterprises. In fact, there are quite a few people engaged in this industry. Unfortunately, it's too late for us to get a share of the pie...

Secondly, battery recycling actually requires high - level technology.

Currently, there are two mainstream methods of battery recycling: cascade utilization and disassembly recycling.

The method of selling iron, cobalt, and nickel mentioned above belongs to disassembly recycling, which is usually carried out when the battery capacity decays to less than 20%. At this stage, the battery basically has no reuse value and can only be completely scrapped, and metals such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium are extracted and sold.

Most enterprises choose wet recycling, which means putting the battery electrode materials into acid - base solutions to leach out metal ions. Then, these metal ions are separated by an extractant.

However, wet battery recycling has relatively high requirements for equipment and technology. Not to mention the recycling rate, many enterprises can't even meet the environmental protection standards.

We used to say that if you bury a No. 5 battery in the soil, nothing will grow within a one - meter radius for 100 years.

This statement is a bit exaggerated for today's No. 5 batteries, but it may be quite appropriate for power batteries.

Take the step of soaking the battery for example. When the fluoride in the electrolyte comes into contact with water, it will produce highly toxic and corrosive hydrofluoric acid, which will pollute water, soil, and air. If humans breathe it in or come into contact with it, it will seriously irritate the respiratory tract.

Image source: The Paper

Lao Wang said that there are very few enterprises in this industry that can achieve standardized recycling. Except for leading enterprises such as Brunp Recycling, Tianqi, and GEM, many others are not standardized, including some white - listed enterprises. "Many white - listed enterprises are even less standardized than individuals."

Previously, the chairman of Saidemei, a white - listed enterprise, also said in an interview with reporters that some enterprises "fish in troubled waters", using the guise of recycling to engage in mineral processing and only aiming to make a quick profit.

One more thing to add

Currently, the official website of Saidemei has been cancelled, and its chairman has become a dishonest executor

Lao Wang also shared his personal experience, saying that his company directly discharges the polluted battery liquid from soaked battery packs into the sewer.

Provided by the interviewee

Of course, Lao Wang comforted me by saying that since the prices of nickel, cobalt, and lithium have dropped, unless it's absolutely necessary, they usually choose another more profitable recycling method, namely cascade utilization.

Power batteries with a capacity between 20% and 80% will be disassembled and reassembled according to their capacity and then used in equipment such as forklifts and energy storage stations to continue serving.

After all, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Retired lithium iron phosphate batteries also have a longer lifespan and higher energy density than the lead - acid batteries used in low - speed buses today.

After such operations, the environmental pollution problem is reduced, but there are still many shady operations.

First of all, there is the problem of battery quality. Enterprises engaged in cascade utilization often don't sign a quality guarantee agreement with downstream enterprises that purchase batteries. This means that the quality of these batteries can't be guaranteed.

For example, if a customer buys a batch of new batteries from me, I usually need to provide at least an 8 - year or 120,000 - kilometer quality guarantee to ensure the safety of the batteries. At least, someone can be held accountable. Just like when we buy electrical appliances, we expect a one - or two - year after - sales warranty.

However, for second - hand recycled batteries, it's a one - off deal.

The sellers of the batteries are not responsible for the subsequent safety problems of the batteries. As long as the products made with these batteries don't have major problems due to the batteries within the half - year or one - year warranty period after being sold, it's okay.

Moreover, the acceptance method of the buyers of the batteries is very crude. Regardless of the battery's lifespan, they basically only measure the resistance and voltage to confirm that there are no major problems with the battery and then use it.

So, as long as the battery pack is not externally damaged or obviously swollen, this kind of "fully defective" battery pack can be reused after some repairs.

Even Lao Wang's company is a bit "conscientious" as they at least don't use swollen batteries. But some small workshops disassemble and reassemble swollen batteries and use them in two - wheeled or three - wheeled vehicles...

What's even more shocking to Chaping Jun is that white - listed enterprises have no competitiveness in front of small workshops.

The real bulk of battery recycling is actually in the hands of these small workshops. Because small workshops are bold in their operations, have low costs, and offer high prices for battery recycling.

Not to mention whether they meet environmental standards, the personal safety of the workers in small workshops is not necessarily guaranteed.

Generally speaking, during the battery disassembly process, if the battery is not fully discharged, it is very easy to catch fire. Even Brunp, a subsidiary of CATL, once had a serious fire accident.

But small workshops don't care whether it's a blade battery or a cell - to - pack battery. The workers just use hammers and axes to disassemble them.

According to an on - the - spot visit by The Paper, workers use cutting machines and hammers to cut and disassemble batteries, creating sparks everywhere. Even the person in charge admitted to reporters: