Waste batteries pose a significant environmental threat due to their harmful impact. For instance, just a 20-gram mobile phone battery has the potential to contaminate the water equivalent to that of 3 swimming pools, leading to pollution in land spanning a square kilometer for up to fifty years.

Hence, recycling waste batteries isn't just environmentally responsible; it's also a crucial step in mitigating environmental pollution and curbing the adverse effects of battery chemical elements on the environment. Additionally, proper battery recycling and utilization can generate fresh economic opportunities.

As global focus on environmental conservation intensifies and the new energy vehicle market experiences rapid growth, the recycling of new energy vehicle batteries emerges as a critical and widely discussed topic.

By 2025, it is projected that the worldwide volume of end-of-life new energy vehicle batteries will reach millions of tons. Improper disposal of these discarded batteries not only poses a significant threat of environmental pollution but also squanders valuable resources.

Cascade Utilization & Recycling

Cascade Utilization involves progressively reducing the battery's functionality until it extracts its final shred of value. While certain retired power batteries may not meet automotive power standards, through dismantling and reorganization, they can find utility in energy storage systems, small electric devices, solar street lights, backup power, and various other applications.

- The Cruyff Arena, which serves as the home ground for the Dutch team Ajax, has established an energy storage system with the capacity to store 3 megawatts of electricity. This system utilizes retired lithium batteries sourced from Nissan and Nissan Leaf vehicles. Its primary objective is to offer backup power to the stadium in case of power outages or periods of high demand.

- The U.S.-based company B2U has constructed a solar power distribution and storage facility in Sierra, California. This station harnesses solar energy to store 25 megawatt-hours of power, utilizing 1,300 retired batteries from Honda and Nissan electric vehicles. This project stands as the largest energy storage initiative globally that repurposes retired electric vehicle batteries.

Commercializing cascade utilization poses significant challenges. Variations in driving habits and charging practices result in inconsistent remaining capacities for individual cells within retired power battery packs. This diversity of application scenarios complicates product development, design, and maintenance, thereby increasing costs across the board.

Recycling involves extracting valuable elements from used batteries, breaking them down into raw materials, and using them to manufacture new batteries. For batteries experiencing significant power decay and deemed unsuitable for reuse, rare metals like lithium, along with cobalt and nickel, can be reclaimed through various methods including physical, chemical, and metallurgical processes. This approach helps prolong the lifespan of rare elements and minimizes resource wastage.

In terms of business models, recycling is more established. In theory, a higher proportion of battery material dismantling and recycling should lead to lower costs for power batteries. Cutting-edge technology, expertise, and professional power battery recycling don't just boost profits for recycling companies—they also bring considerable economic benefits to the power battery sector.