As China’s Two Sessions has commenced, Battery Science & Technology—a white-listed enterprise under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)—has put forward recommendations aimed at promoting the sustainable and standardized development of the retired power battery recycling and dismantling industry.

At present, over 160,000 enterprises in China are engaged in lithium battery resource recycling. However, only about 4% of them have a registered capital exceeding CNY50 million, and just 148 companies are officially listed on the MIIT’s compliance “white list”. This contrast reveals a stark imbalance: while China’s lithium battery output is abundant, the number of compliant recycling enterprises remains limited. Currently, less than 25% of retired batteries are processed by compliant “white-listed” enterprises, with the majority flowing into unregulated channels. This has led to severe market distortions, such as “bad money driving out good”, “the cost of raw materials surpassing that of finished products”, and “insufficient recycling capacity utilization despite a full-year scrapping of new battery cells”.

To address these issues, Battery Science & Technology proposes the establishment of an extended producer responsibility (EPR) mechanism, a traceable recycling system, and a carbon reduction performance evaluation framework. These measures would support the market-driven, standardized, and sustainable development of low-carbon and resource recycling. The company also calls for the prompt introduction of mandatory national standards and the implementation of reasonable and appropriate performance assessments for local governments and leading enterprises in the industry chain—particularly with regard to carbon emissions and resource recycling rates. This will help encourage new energy consumption sectors and leading enterprises in the industry chain to drive the recycling and reuse of resources.

In addition, the company recommends greater policy support for the creation of regional integrated demonstrative ecosystems focused on lithium battery resource regeneration and recycling. This will give play to the guiding and exemplary role of “white-listed” enterprises and provide replicable solutions for the implementation of national strategies.

Finally, Battery Science & Technology advocates for raising industry entry thresholds, clearly defining entities of regulatory responsibilities, refining regulatory enforcement measures, and strengthening coordinated enforcement by environment protection, commerce, market supervision, and industry and information technology departments.