According to a survey by Mysteel, China's lithium-ion battery hydrometallurgical recycling capacity has reached 2.86 million tonnes per year as of the time of this writing.
Jiangxi Province ranked first with a regional capacity of 0.70 million tonnes per year, taking up 24.5% of China's total capacity. Hunan Province and Guangdong Province took the second and third positions respectively, with a regional capacity of 0.67 million tonnes per year and 0.31 million tonnes per year, occupying 23.41% and 10.77% of the total, respectively.
The significant growth in China's lithium-ion battery hydrometallurgical recycling capacity reflects the country's efforts to establish a robust and sustainable recycling ecosystem for its burgeoning electric vehicle and energy storage industries.
Hydrometallurgical recycling, which involves the use of chemical processes to extract and recover valuable metals from spent batteries, has emerged as a key technology in China's push to close the loop on lithium-ion battery supply chains.
The regional distribution of the recycling capacity highlights the importance of key industrial hubs like Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangdong in driving the development of China's battery recycling industry.
As the demand for lithium-ion batteries continues to grow, the expansion of China's recycling capacity will be crucial in ensuring a reliable and environmentally-friendly supply of critical raw materials to support the country's clean energy transition.