Different Types of Battery Recycling Methods: the Current Status of the Waste Battery Market

As we all know, electrical batteries have become one of the most important energy sources in modern society. There are many types of electrical batteries with different models and different power levels. They are used in different electrical equipment and play an important role. However, because the electrical battery contains a large amount of toxic substances, it is easy to pollute the environment and endanger human health. Therefore, waste electrical batteries cannot be disposed of at will. There different methods to recycle different types of waste electrical batteries.

1. Different types of battery recycling methods

(1) Dry electrical battery: This type of electrical battery is currently required to prohibit the use of mercury, so it is safe in life. For this reason, the recycling of this type of electrical battery is not required. Of course, those who are willing to recycle can engage in this business. It does not matter if the user puts it in the trash can. The purpose of recycling is to obtain metal steel and copper.

(2) Nickel electrical batteries: Nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride electrical batteries can be collected in some public places. Consumers can gather the waste electrical batteries and hand them to the collection point. The use after recycling is to obtain metallic nickel, iron, zinc, and cadmium by heating, and other metal oxides can be processed again.

(3) Button electrical batteries: The recycling method is to replace the old electrical batteries by professionals. Therefore, when the electrical battery cannot be used in the electrical equipment, you can take the electrical equipment to the maintenance point and exchange for a new electrical battery from there. The end of the recycling is to crush and recover the metal.

(4) Li-ion battery: Li-ion battery is a kind of environmentally friendly battery with high manufacturing cost. Because electrical battery is usually an important part of equipment, workers in equipment recycling places are generally willing to recycle li-ion batteries. Li-ion batteries can be recycled for comprehensive utilization after extraction.

2. The current status of the waste battery market

(1) Provided the service life of power li-ion batteries is 5 to 8 years, by 2020, China will have the first wave of decommissioning of power li-ion battery. It is predicted that the cumulative amount of decommissioning and scrap of li-ion battery next year will reach 120,000 to 170,000 tons. By 2022, the market size may exceed 30 billion yuan.

(2) Due to the inconsistent battery standards and immature technology, the economics of cascading utilization are still questionable; in terms of dismantling and recycling, economic benefits must be realized by scale effects, but because the recycling channels have not been fully opened, a large number of retired electrical batteries flow into informal channels, while the booming battery recycling industry may encounter the dilemma of "making bricks without straw".

(3) The current recycling cost of electrical battery is relatively high. If the industry wants to develop healthily, it must standardize the recycling channels to normalize battery prices and no longer use the means of bidding for recycling. However, it is worth noting that although there are already a large number of policies to "escort" the development of the power li-ion battery industry, as the recycling system has yet to be perfected, the recycling industry will still face many challenges in the future.

3. Requirements on waste battery recycling

(1) The collection should be standardized: the terminal stores should establish waste battery file management and standardizes the storage place.

(2) Sales must be standardized: it must be handed over to a qualified recycling and disposal unit.

(3) Transport must be standardized: all transport links must be managed in accordance with the requirements on hazardous wastes, and the transfer form of hazardous waste must be applied.

It is best for citizens not to damage the outer packaging of the dry battery at will, otherwise it will easily cause the electrolyte to leak and corrode the surrounding objects. In order to better care for the environment, we must support and urge the early establishment of a waste battery recycling system. In fact, besides the waste battery recycling system, the garbage classification and recycling system of the entire society should also been established.