Electric vehicle recycling in China: Economic and environmental benefits

• Published in: Resources, conservation and recycling conservation and recycling, 2019-01, Vol.140, p.45-53
• Main Authors: Qiao, Qinyu, Zhao, Fuquan, Liu, Zongwei, Hao, Han
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Energy and emissions; Recycling cost; Recycling products; Traction battery
• ISSN: 0921-3449; 1879-0658
• DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.09.003

•Electric vehicle recycling technology in China is analyzed.•Economic and environmental benefits can be obtained through current recycling technologies in China.•Traction battery recycling is likely to be more beneficial in the future.•Level of recycling products significantly influences the benefits. With the rapid growth of electric vehicles in China, their benefits should be scientifically identified to support the industry development. Although the life cycle benefits of electric vehicles have been analyzed worldwide, the recycling phase has not been fully studied yet, especially in China. Actually, electric vehicle recycling is becoming more and more important because of the increasing demand of materials. Therefore, this study focuses on the economic and environmental benefits of electric vehicle recycling in China. Based on the technology adopted by leading enterprises, the gross income and reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are calculated to reveal the benefits. The life cycle economic and environmental impacts of recycling equipment are not included. The results indicate that the gross income per electric vehicle recycled is about 473.9 dollars, and the reductions of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are about 25.6GJ and 4.1t CO2eq, respectively. Furthermore, the environmental benefits per technology cost are about 241.3 MJ/dollar and 36.3 kg CO2eq/dollar. The recycled metals are the major source of both economic and environmental benefits at present due to the huge amount, but the recycled cathode active materials will be more valuable with the development of traction batteries.