Lithium-ion battery recycling refers to the technological and industrial system for recovering and repurposing end-of-life lithium-ion batteries; it primarily targets power batteries from new energy vehicles (NEVs) and lithium batteries from electric bicycles. Key pathways include “tiered utilization” (repurposing batteries with sufficient residual capacity for less demanding applications after testing and reconfiguration) and “regenerative utilization” (extracting critical metals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel via technologies like shredding and hydrometallurgy to manufacture new battery materials).
The Interim Measures for the Administration of Recycling and Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles* officially took effect on April 1, 2026, marking the industry’s entry into a new phase of standardized, full-chain management. As NEVs become widespread and a “wave of battery retirements” arrives, the industry is shifting toward greater consolidation and standardization. In 2025, the volume of waste power batteries undergoing comprehensive utilization in China exceeded 400,000 tons. It is projected that the volume of retired power batteries will surpass the 4-million-ton mark starting in 2028, with annual waste generation exceeding 1 million tons by 2030; the market scale is expected to exceed 100 billion RMB. Regarding regenerative utilization technology, some enterprises have achieved high metal recovery rates—such as over 96% for lithium and over 99% for nickel and cobalt. Forecasts suggest that by 2030, the total volume of lithium, nickel, and cobalt recovered from power batteries could meet approximately 30% of that year’s consumption demand. The industry landscape is currently defined by three competitive camps: leading specialized recyclers, battery giants, and materials enterprises. However, challenges remain, including the integration of recycling channels, the need for technological upgrades, low capacity utilization rates among “whitelist” enterprises, and the diversion of batteries to small, unregulated workshops offering higher prices.
Lithium-ion battery recycling involves processing end-of-life batteries through various technical methods to recover valuable resources and repurpose residual value, thereby establishing a “production-to-recycling” closed-loop system that minimizes resource waste and environmental pollution. Technical pathways are primarily categorized into regenerative utilization and tiered utilization. Regenerative utilization is the process of separating valuable metals—such as nickel, cobalt, lithium, and manganese—and other valuable materials from waste lithium-ion batteries using physical, chemical, or biological methods, subsequently converting them into metal compounds or raw materials for new batteries. Cascaded utilization refers to the process of dismantling, testing, sorting, and reassembling cells or battery packs from used lithium batteries into new, functional battery packs for redeployment in applications with lower performance requirements, such as energy storage and low-speed electric vehicles.
