Techno-Economic Assessment of Battery Recycling and Cascade Use for Legal and Illegal Recyclers in China Tsinghua University

Format:

Book

Conference/Event

Author/Creator:

Du, Shilong, author.

Li, Haoyang, author.

Dou, Hao, author.

Hao, Han, author.

Conference Name:

WCX SAE World Congress Experience (2026-04-14 : Detroit, Michigan, United States)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lithium-ion batteries.

Battery cell chemistry.

Environmental protection.

Sustainable development.

Electric vehicles.

Batteries.

Recycling.

Local Subjects:

Lithium-ion batteries.

Battery cell chemistry.

Environmental protection.

Sustainable development.

Electric vehicles.

Batteries.

Recycling.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Warrendale, PA SAE International 2026

Summary:

With the strong momentum of electric vehicles (EVs), the battery recycling industry is undergoing rapid growth. While the Chinese government has implemented a white-list mechanism under which only approved recyclers are allowed to process retired batteries, small-scale illegal battery recycling vendors have posed a serious challenge. This study compares the techno-economic performance of battery recycling between legal and illegal recyclers in China, and makes recommendations to eliminate illegal operations. Our research covers two battery chemistries: lithium nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide (NMC) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP), as well as two technological pathways: resource recycling and cascade utilization. For the general case, the costs of illegal vendors are 35-46% lower than that of legal companies. Although legal companies achieve high resource utilization, their overall economic performance lags behind due to their high costs associated with equipment, environmental protection, taxes, and materials. Such situation can be reversed with changes in economies of scale, tax incentives, and automation in the recycling process. Among different battery types and recycling pathways, the resource recycling of NMC 811 batteries is most likely to achieve a competitive advantage through policy support and economies of scale. In contrast, for the resource recycling of LFP batteries, legal companies are unlikely to surpass illegal vendors across all scenarios. To ensure sustainable development of the battery recycling industry, critical strategies should be comprehensively employed, alongside measures such as raising entry barriers, regulating recycling networks, and strengthening supervision to crack down on illegal vendors

Notes:

Vendor supplied data

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license