12
H. Roberts
in 2018, 3.1 Mt via dedicated recycling operations with the balance coming from
secondary materials processed by primary smelters, meant that poor environmental
operating conditions could not go unchecked.
The Chinese government began to implement much stricter enforcement of
already existing environmental regulations in 2016 and this has resulted in disruption to the secondary lead industry over the past three years. Plants that had installed
mechanical battery breaking equipment and were able to separate the component
parts but had not yet invested in approved smelting technology were required to
sell recovered battery paste to third-party primary smelters while being restricted to
remelting and refining/alloying battery grids and posts.
There has been a surge in investment to upgrade battery recycling plants to include
smelting technology approved by the authorities. Typically, enterprises are installing
oxygen enriched, side-blowing furnaces for the treatment of lead paste. It is notable
that, to date, few companies are investing in equipment to desulphurise the battery
paste prior to smelting. This means that for most facilities furnace gas emissions
require scrubbing.
Plans for new battery recycling plants seen by CHR Metals suggest that the seven
largest companies currently involved in the industry could have the capacity to process 6 Mt of scrapped batteries by the end of 2020, an increase of almost 50% from
their available capacity in 2018. Following the direction of the central government,
most of the larger battery manufacturers are now involved in the collection and processing of used batteries. Government policy is that battery manufacturers collect
used batteries equivalent to 40% of their sales by 2020 and 70% by 2025, and that all
these batteries must be recycled in a safe and approved manner. Given existing facilities which are already compliant with environmental standards, ongoing investment
in new and expanded recycling facilities and a continued effort to eliminate activity
in the informal sector, this target is achievable. There are, in addition, reports of several other new/upgraded/expanded plants operated by smaller companies across the
country and not directly affiliated with a battery maker which will be commissioned
by 2020 and will also meet current environmental standards. The prospect of a glut
in battery recycling capacity looks inevitable.
The very rapid growth in China’s secondary lead production, especially since
2008, principally reflects the emergence of electric lead–acid battery powered bicycles in the years after 2005, a market that barely existed five years earlier (Fig. 5). By
2005, e-bike sales had reached 13 million a year and more than doubled to almost
30 million a year by 2010. Sales rose at a slower pace thereafter and are reported to
have peaked in the years 2012–2014 at around 35 million a year although this may
have been an exaggerated figure and also included a small share of e-bikes powered
by li–ion batteries. However, with each e-bike on the road carrying a battery pack
typically containing 10–11 kg lead in a fleet which has reached a total of at least 160
million (some estimates going as high as 200 million but CHR Metals takes the view
that not all of these e-bikes may be in use) this represented a huge market for lead.
Moreover, in the early days of e-bikes, batteries typically needed replacing within a
year. While battery lives have been extended as quality has improved, regular users
of e-bikes still need to replace their batteries at least every two years. This not only
H. Roberts
in 2018, 3.1 Mt via dedicated recycling operations with the balance coming from
secondary materials processed by primary smelters, meant that poor environmental
operating conditions could not go unchecked.
The Chinese government began to implement much stricter enforcement of
already existing environmental regulations in 2016 and this has resulted in disruption to the secondary lead industry over the past three years. Plants that had installed
mechanical battery breaking equipment and were able to separate the component
parts but had not yet invested in approved smelting technology were required to
sell recovered battery paste to third-party primary smelters while being restricted to
remelting and refining/alloying battery grids and posts.
There has been a surge in investment to upgrade battery recycling plants to include
smelting technology approved by the authorities. Typically, enterprises are installing
oxygen enriched, side-blowing furnaces for the treatment of lead paste. It is notable
that, to date, few companies are investing in equipment to desulphurise the battery
paste prior to smelting. This means that for most facilities furnace gas emissions
require scrubbing.
Plans for new battery recycling plants seen by CHR Metals suggest that the seven
largest companies currently involved in the industry could have the capacity to process 6 Mt of scrapped batteries by the end of 2020, an increase of almost 50% from
their available capacity in 2018. Following the direction of the central government,
most of the larger battery manufacturers are now involved in the collection and processing of used batteries. Government policy is that battery manufacturers collect
used batteries equivalent to 40% of their sales by 2020 and 70% by 2025, and that all
these batteries must be recycled in a safe and approved manner. Given existing facilities which are already compliant with environmental standards, ongoing investment
in new and expanded recycling facilities and a continued effort to eliminate activity
in the informal sector, this target is achievable. There are, in addition, reports of several other new/upgraded/expanded plants operated by smaller companies across the
country and not directly affiliated with a battery maker which will be commissioned
by 2020 and will also meet current environmental standards. The prospect of a glut
in battery recycling capacity looks inevitable.
The very rapid growth in China’s secondary lead production, especially since
2008, principally reflects the emergence of electric lead–acid battery powered bicycles in the years after 2005, a market that barely existed five years earlier (Fig. 5). By
2005, e-bike sales had reached 13 million a year and more than doubled to almost
30 million a year by 2010. Sales rose at a slower pace thereafter and are reported to
have peaked in the years 2012–2014 at around 35 million a year although this may
have been an exaggerated figure and also included a small share of e-bikes powered
by li–ion batteries. However, with each e-bike on the road carrying a battery pack
typically containing 10–11 kg lead in a fleet which has reached a total of at least 160
million (some estimates going as high as 200 million but CHR Metals takes the view
that not all of these e-bikes may be in use) this represented a huge market for lead.
Moreover, in the early days of e-bikes, batteries typically needed replacing within a
year. While battery lives have been extended as quality has improved, regular users
of e-bikes still need to replace their batteries at least every two years. This not only