New Material Intelligence NMT | BMW Group works with Huayou to create 100% closed-loop recycling of power battery raw materials

On May 25, the signing ceremony of the cooperation between BMW Group and Zhejiang Huayou Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Huayou Recycling”) for the cascade utilization of power batteries and the closed-loop recycling of battery materials was held in Shenyang Brilliance BMW Tiexi Plant.
The two sides announced that they would work together in the field of new energy vehicles to create an innovative cooperation model of closed-loop recycling and cascade utilization of power battery materials, and for the first time realized closed-loop recycling of power battery raw materials for BMW’s domestic electric vehicles and closed-loop management of power battery raw materials.
According to the cooperation agreement between the two parties, BMW Group and Huayou Cycle will cooperate to disassemble the power battery and extract nickel, cobalt, lithium and other core raw materials in the battery in a high proportion through Huayou Cycle’s advanced green metallurgical technology. Unlike the original way of dismantling, recycling and reusing power batteries, the closed-loop recycling mode of power battery materials can realize the return of 100% of the core raw materials extracted in high proportion to BMW’s own supply chain system, and be used again in the production and manufacturing of power batteries for BMW’s new energy vehicles, thus realizing the recycling of resources. This measure will effectively reduce the carbon emissions of 70% in the mining of mineral resources, and significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the whole life cycle of power batteries.
Dr. Dai Hexuan, President and CEO of BMW Brilliance Automotive Co., Ltd., said: “At present, the power battery recycling industry in China is in the ascendant. The successful exploration of BMW Brilliance and Huayou Cycle in the field of power battery recycling will not only help BMW further reduce the average carbon emissions of the whole life cycle of a single car, but also help BMW complete the business model of power battery recycling and recycling with its supplier partners, which is conducive to the sustainable development of the domestic power battery industry.”
Huayou Cobalt said that through the deepening cooperation between the two sides, the residual value of retired power batteries will be fully utilized, and the carbon emissions generated in the extraction and production of power battery raw materials will also be significantly reduced. Chen Xuehua, the chairman of the company, said that the cooperation between BMW Group and Huayou is an innovative and win-win model, which will provide a new model for the cooperation of the industry and open up a new path for the low-carbon and green development of battery materials.
On May 16, Huayou Cobalt said in an interactive exchange with investors that the lithium battery recycling business is the company’s key business in the future. The company’s subsidiaries Huayou Quzhou and Huayou Resource Recycling were included in the first and second batch of the list of enterprises in line with the Industrial Specifications for Comprehensive Utilization of Waste and Used Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. At the same time, the company has also cooperated with a number of well-known vehicle enterprises to develop and undertake the recycling of retired batteries, and with a number of well-known battery enterprises to cooperate in the strategic cooperation mode of exchanging waste for materials, and has reached cooperation with a number of domestic and foreign vehicle enterprises in the recycling and recycling of retired batteries.
On May 2, Huayou Cobalt also announced that Huayou Resource Recycling, the company’s recycling subsidiary, has obtained the certification certificate of PAS 2060 carbon neutrality declaration issued by SGS, becoming the world’s first “zero carbon” plant for resource recycling.
In addition, BMW Group is also accelerating the process of electrification. According to the information of the annual financial report held on March 16, BMW Group will produce 15 pure electric vehicles in mass production and trial production in 2022; The “new generation” model based on the new architecture will start trial production in 2024 and will be unveiled in 2025; By the end of 2025, BMW Group plans to deliver 2 million pure electric vehicles worldwide; By 2030, the global annual sales of pure electric vehicles will exceed 1.5 million.
In the first quarter of this year, BMW Group successfully delivered 208507 BMW and MINI cars and 2990 BMW Motorrad motorcycles in China. Among them, the sales of pure electric vehicles, boosted by BMW iX, BMW i4, BMW iX3 and other models, reached three times of the same period last year, and the momentum of electric strategy promotion is strong.