NEV battery glut posing challenges

BEIJING - With the market for new energy vehicles (NEVs) booming, China is now the largest NEV battery producer. But with the opportunity comes a challenge: how to recycle the growing number of redundant batteries.

China is still exploring regulatory and management systems for battery recycling. Industry and Information Technology Minister Miao Wei recently said China will establish an extended producer responsibility regime, which would make car manufacturers responsible for recycling.

China's total production and sales of NEVs are expected to reach 5 million by 2020. As the average lifespan of power batteries is about five to eight years, according to Shenzhen-based research firm Gao Gong Industry Institute, China will see the amount of redundant batteries hit about 250,000 metric tons in 2020, almost 20 times that of 2016.