JAKARTA - The battery recycling industry in China is entering a phase of major expansion as the volume of used electric vehicle (EV) batteries and increasingly strict regulatory oversight increases. Data from the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute shows that the market value of battery recycling in China has reached 558 billion yuan.
Launching from Carnewschina, Wednesday, December 31, the figure confirms the strategic role of the recycling sector in supporting the EV industry supply chain. For comparison, the value of recycled battery materials is even greater, reaching 647 billion yuan.
This difference reflects the significant added value generated from the recovery process of important metals and materials, such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt. In general, battery recycling in China follows two main paths.
First, multi-tiered utilization, namely the reuse of used batteries for secondary applications such as stationary energy storage. Second, material recycling focusing on the extraction of metals and valuable materials from spent batteries.
These two lines form a complete industrial chain, from collection, processing, to reuse in the downstream sector. In the value chain, upstream players are filled by battery manufacturers and major raw material suppliers such as CATL, BYD, Shanxi Coking, and Yunnan Tin.
In the middle sector, recycling companies such as Huayou Cobalt, Ganfeng Lithium, New Energy Times, and Haopeng Technology play an important role. Meanwhile, the downstream segment is filled by battery material and powder metallurgy manufacturers, including Dangsheng Technology and Heyuan Fuma.
Until 2024, a total of 156 companies have been officially registered as entities eligible for the comprehensive use of used lithium-ion batteries. The total combined nominal processing capacity reaches 423.3 million tons per year.
In the lead-acid battery segment, as many as 71 licensed companies have approved processing capacity of 1.47 billion tons per year. In terms of revenue, lithium battery recycling generates around 220 billion yuan throughout 2024.
Meanwhile, sales of recycled lead accounted for around 427 billion yuan, or about 59 billion US dollars. In total, the value of sales of recycled battery materials approached 90 billion US dollars, separate from the value of used batteries collected.
Based on the capacity announced, Bangpu Recycling and CATL each control around 6.4 percent of the total recognized lithium battery recycling capacity in 2024. GEM follows with a share of around 5.9 percent, while Ganfeng Lithium and Xien Recycling are in the range of 4.7 percent.
Geographically, recycling activities are concentrated in Jiangxi, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces, which have long been the basis of the battery and material industries. Regulatory impetus is also becoming more apparent.
In February 2025, the Chinese State Council approved a national action plan for the electric vehicle battery recycling system. This policy emphasizes standardized collection, stricter supervision, increased transparency, and regulation of informal recycling activities so that the industry can grow more structured and on a large scale.
Going forward, Qianzhan projects that the market value of battery recycling in China will penetrate 1,000 billion yuan by 2030. In the same period, sales of recycled battery materials are expected to exceed 2,000 billion yuan.
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