China has set new targets for battery recycling, renewable energy waste treatment, secondary metals production and greener metals manufacturing through 2030, after releasing its 15th Five-Year Plan for green and low-carbon industrial development.
The plan, released by China's industry and information technology ministry (MIIT) late last week, aims to accelerate resource recycling and reduce emissions across China's industrial sector, while supporting the development of domestic supply chains for critical battery materials and strategic metals.
China aims to increase recycling volumes of retired electric vehicle (EV) batteries to more than 1mn t/yr by 2030. Authorities will encourage manufacturers to recover lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, phosphorus and iron from spent batteries and return the materials to battery production. Metals recovered from retired EV batteries are expected to account for 10-15pc of the lithium, cobalt and nickel required for battery manufacturing by 2030.
The requirement for recycled content for battery materials is similar to the approach previously introduced in Europe, a battery recycling source said. But many of China's hydrometallurgical recycling plants are still operating below capacity and continue to face profitability challenges.
Meeting the proposed targets may rely on accounting-based calculations rather than on actual volumes generated through recycling operations, the market source added.
China also plans to speed up the development of an integrated recycling system covering EV batteries, lithium-ion batteries from electric bicycles, end-of-life solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and retired wind turbine blades. The government will establish a digital battery passport system for EV batteries to improve oversight and traceability throughout the supply chain.
For the solar sector, the plan calls for new recycling capacity in regions with large installed PV capacity, including north China, northwest China and east China. It aims for recycling volumes of retired PV modules to reach around 80,000 t/yr by 2030.
In the wind power sector, China expects recycling volumes of retired turbine blades to reach around 170,000 t/yr by 2030.
The plan also supports the development of integrated primary and secondary metals production clusters in regions with established nonferrous smelting industries. China aims for output of secondary nonferrous metals to reach 25mn t/yr by 2030.
For the steel sector, authorities aim to improve co-operation between steel producers and scrap processors in major steelmaking regions, promoting integrated collection, dismantling, processing and distribution systems. Authorities aims for scrap steel recycling volumes to reach 300mn t/yr by 2030.
The plan includes targets for improving utilisation of industrial waste streams. In bauxite-producing regions with high iron-content ores, authorities will prioritise recovery of iron resources from red mud and expand its use as a substitute for iron ore. China aims for its comprehensive red mud utilisation rate to reach 25pc by 2030.
The government also plans to continue restructuring the electrolytic manganese industry to reduce waste generation. Major producers will be encouraged to develop local utilisation solutions for manganese slag. The comprehensive utilisation rate of manganese slag is targeted to reach 30pc by 2030.
China will promote greater use of renewable electricity in the aluminium sector and encourage the adoption of greener short-process production routes for aluminium, zinc, magnesium and titanium, MIIT said of the country's industrial decarbonisation efforts.
The ministry did not publish targets for these measures.
A higher proportion of renewable power consumption in China's aluminium sector could increase producers' operating costs in the near term. But increased use of renewable power is expected to lower the industry's carbon intensity mitigate the impact of trade measures such as the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), and improve the global competitiveness of Chinese primary aluminium metal and products over the longer term, market participants said.
