L R AS Published on Saturday 10 September 2022 - n° 415 - Categories:battery materials
We are looking for recycled battery materials because 1st fusion products are too expensive.
The sharp rise in the price of battery components is forcing Chinese manufacturers to seek out recycled materials as much as possible. For example, the price of lithium carbonate has risen ninefold
between the beginning of 2021 and 29 August 2022! Prices should continue to rise in the second half of the year due to strong demand in the high season and limited supply as a result of electricity restrictions.
A high recycling rate
All manufacturers, including world No. 1 CATL, use recycled materials. CATL has increased its nickel, cobalt and manganese recovery rate to 99.3%. The recovery rate for lithium is 90%. In the first quarter of 2022, a total of 21,300 tonnes of used batteries were recycled and used by the company to manufacture 18,000 tonnes of battery components.
Other battery manufacturers are also recycling. BMW has teamed up with a Chinese recycler to create a closed-circuit management system for the raw materials used in its batteries. The German manufacturer supplies the used batteries, while the recycler extracts the materials and rebuilds the batteries with them!
The prospects for recycling
According to Wood Mackenzie, the supply of lithium compounds made from recycled materials will reach 26,000 tonnes in 2022, compared with 18,000 tonnes in 2021. This figure should reach 200,000 tonnes in 2030, eight times more than this year, which would represent 12% of the world's lithium supply.
https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20220902PD204/battery-recycling-catl-china-ev-battery.html?chid=13
Digitimes of 2 September 2022
Editor's note: There is talk of 90% recycling of lithium and even 99% for other metals. However, there is a gap of 3,300 tonnes between the recycled components and the weight of used batteries. That's a gap of 15%. What are we talking about here?
