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The recycling of lead-acid batteries in China is developing rapidly, with overcapacity and unresolved equipment and process issues

China is a major producer and consumer of lead. Compared with the primary lead extracted from ores, the recycled lead obtained from discarded batteries has lower energy consumption, fewer pollutant emissions, and better meets the needs of low-carbon environmental protection in the production process. On July 7th, at the 17th International Lead and Zinc Summit and International Lead and Zinc Technology Innovation Conference 2022, jointly organized by Shanghai Nonferrous Network Information Technology Co., Ltd. (SMM) and Tianneng Holdings Group Co., Ltd., industry insiders stated that China's recycled lead industry has developed rapidly in recent years, but there are still problems with overcapacity, low profitability, and the need for further improvement in equipment and technology level in the industry. According to the "14th Five Year Plan for Industrial Green Development" released by the Ministry of Industry and Information in November 2021, during the "14th Five Year Plan" period, China's production scale of recycled lead will continue to expand. It is expected that by 2025, China's recycled refined lead will reach 2.9 million tons, with a total market capacity of about 40 billion yuan. Lead acid batteries - The development of recycled lead cycle has become the main driving force for the growth of China's recycled lead industry. More than 85% of China's recycled lead raw materials come from waste lead batteries, and more than half of the lead consumed in the lead battery industry comes from recycled lead. In the afternoon forum, Zhang Chunqiang, Executive Vice President of Tianneng Resource Recycling Business Unit, introduced that in 2021, the production capacity of recycled lead enterprises that extended from battery production enterprises to the dismantling of waste lead batteries reached 4.17 million tons/year, accounting for 38.5% of the recycled lead production capacity. The recycled lead industry has begun to develop towards intelligence and scale. Since 2018, the production capacity of new and ongoing projects has mostly exceeded 100000 tons per year, and the concentration of the industry has rapidly increased.

What does a sodium ion battery rely on to resist "lithium" in the courtroom?

Recently, with the frequent news of the launch of sodium ion batteries, the industrialization of sodium ion batteries has become more clear. (Article from: Energy Review • Chief Energy Outlook ID: CEO-ER) On December 27, 2023, the world's first electric vehicle equipped with sodium ion batteries, Jianghuai Yttrium, was officially launched. The new car began mass delivery on January 5, 2024. This model is positioned as an A00 level micro electric vehicle and currently starts at a price of 59900 yuan. It is reported that Jianghuai Yttrium is equipped with a unique sodium ion cylindrical battery cell supplied by Zhongke Haina Technology Co., Ltd. This battery has a honeycomb battery structure and a safety feature of "never self ignition". On December 28, 2023, the first pure electric A00 level sodium ion battery model, Jiangling Yizhi EV3 (Youth Edition), jointly launched by Jiangling Group and Funeng Technology, was officially launched. Outside of Jianghuai and Jiangling, electric four-wheel vehicle companies such as Chery and BYD, as well as electric tricycle companies such as Huaihai, have clear plans to use sodium ion batteries or have already applied for relevant vehicle models to the CRRC Vehicle Technical Service Center; Electric two wheeled vehicle companies such as Yadi, Tailing, and Xinri have launched models equipped with sodium ion batteries. These enterprises have become promoters of the sodium ion battery industry. Regarding this, Moko, the founder of third-party battery industry research think tank and true lithium research, said that after the maturity of sodium ion battery technology, it is bound to invade the market of some lead-acid batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries. However, this will be a long and tortuous process. In 2021, sodium ion batteries rapidly rose due to the skyrocketing price of lithium, but with lithium prices returning to normal, the cost advantage of sodium ion batteries will no longer be prominent.