Global power battery companies have joined the competition for waste battery recycling, Volkswagen, Tesla, and Hyundai are all on the list

　　According to a report by South Korea’s "JoongAng Daily" on September 9, with the increasingly fierce competition in power battery secondary utilization technologies, if used batteries can be recycled, not only can the cost of batteries be reduced, the pressure of rising raw material prices can be reduced, and the impact on the environment can also be reduced.

　　Tesla stated in its annual strategy report published last month that 92% of waste battery materials can be recycled through autonomous circulation technology. Based on last year, 1,300 tons of nickel, 400 tons of copper and 80 tons of cobalt have been recovered. At the end of last year, the first phase of installation of battery pack reuse equipment was completed at the Nevada gigabit plant. In this regard, the electric vehicle specialized media commented that Tesla may become the world's largest raw material manufacturer.

　　Volkswagen is also conducting research to increase the recycling rate of battery raw materials from the current 60% to 95%.

　　In South Korea, Hyundai Motor Group is working with SK Innovation to conduct research on the recycling of power batteries. The two companies will use battery recycling technology for the first time on Kia EV6. SK Innovation has developed a technology for recycling waste battery lithium in the form of high-purity lithium hydroxide and has applied for 54 patents. SK Innovation predicts that by 2025, 30GWh of batteries can be recycled each year, with a profit of about 300 billion won.

　　LG Energy Solutions has also promoted the recycling business of producing new batteries with Envirostream, an Australian waste battery processing company, starting in 2018. In May of this year, Ultium Cells, a joint venture between LG and General Motors (GM), signed a battery recycling contract with Li-Cycle, a Canadian lithium-ion battery recycling company. Samsung SDI is cooperating with South Korean companies such as Sungil Hi-tech, a company specializing in the recycling of used batteries.

　　According to the Korea Industrial Research Institute, the production unit price of batteries in electric vehicles is 30%-40%. Among them, the main raw material prices of lithium-ion series lithium, nickel, cobalt, etc., the main products of Korean battery companies, account for about 60% of battery prices. If the waste battery recycling business flourishes, the unit price of battery manufacturing will be lowered, and the price of electric vehicles will continue to fall.

　　SNE Research, a market research company, predicts that last year, the global power battery recycling market was about 400 billion won and will reach 12 trillion won and 87 trillion won by 2030 and 2040, respectively.

　　Lithium-ion battery (LIB) has become the main energy storage solution in modern social life. Among them, lithium iron phosphate battery is a perfect replacement for lead-acid batteries, and it is the first choice for grid-connected peak shaving, off-grid energy storage, photovoltaic energy storage, UPS, data center and other industries.