‘Exclusive interview with Ganfeng Lithium on battery recycling & sustainability’

ICM: Mr Xiaoshen Wang, you are a keynote speaker at the World Reuse & Recycling Forum in November. Please give us an overview of Ganfeng Lithium Group’s activity.

Xiaoshen Wang: Ganfeng Lithium Group is a globally leading lithium ecosystem enterprise. Since its establishment 25 years ago, we started with mid-stream lithium compounds and lithium metal manufacturing, successfully expanding to both upstream and downstream of the industrial value chain. The company has formed a vertically integrated business model, with operations spanning upstream lithium resource development, mid-stream deep processing of lithium compounds and lithium metal smelting, downstream lithium battery manufacturing, energy storage, and comprehensive recycling of retired batteries. The various business segments effectively generate synergies to enhance operational efficiency and profitability, consolidate market position, and gather the latest market information and develop cutting-edge technologies.

Among these, energy storage and solid-state batteries are one of the company’s new business growth points. In the energy storage field, the company has established an ecosystem covering the entire industry chain, including energy storage integration systems, EMS/PCS/BMS research, grid-side energy storage power stations, smart power operation, battery recycling, and battery and energy storage technology R&D and project investment and construction. We have successfully completed the delivery and grid-connection of grid-side shared energy storage power stations, with product quality and safety recognized by the industry and customers, and cumulative shipments exceeding 20GWh.

In the solid-state battery field, we have formed an integrated upstream and downstream commercial layout, covering oxide, sulfide, and polymer system routes, and possesses R&D and production capabilities in key areas such as sulfide solid-state electrolytes and raw materials, oxide electrolytes, lithium metal anodes, cells, and battery systems. In recent years, we have continuously accelerated the commercialization process of solid-state batteries, reaching commercial cooperation with clients on solid-state power batteries for passenger vehicles, and taking the lead in achieving solid-state battery installation in vehicles. In 2025, we made significant progress in the field of low-altitude flight power batteries, reaching cooperation with a leading eVTOL enterprise. The high-specific-energy solid-state cell custom-developed for them successfully passed the manufacturing conformity review jointly conducted by the Southwest Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the customer, and a timetable for installation and test flights has been established.

We have a profound historical accumulation in the circular recycling field. As early as 2005, 20 years ago, we began recycling catalysts to extract lithium metal, a business that continues to this day. In 2016, we expanded its recycling business to include retired battery recycling. It can be said that the concept of circular recycling has long been integrated into the historical genes of the company’s development. Today, our recycling business is no longer limited to the recovery of lithium metal elements but has expanded to include the recovery of various valuable metals such as manganese, cobalt, nickel, aluminum, copper, and iron. The recycling of cathode materials is also under research for the future.

ICM: How important is battery recycling to the Group?

Xiaoshen Wang: As one of the key components of electric vehicles, power batteries are widely used with the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry. Considering that power batteries are about to enter a large-scale retirement phase, we believe it is crucial to carry out recycling of power batteries.

Ganfeng Lithium continuously deepens its retired battery recycling business, establishing a full-value-chain system covering production technology optimization, waste raw material recycling, business capacity building, and industrial cluster development. Currently, the company has formed a comprehensive recycling capacity of 200,000 tons of retired lithium-ion batteries and metal waste. Its retired LFP battery recycling business ranks first in market share in China. The comprehensive lithium recovery rate can reach up to 93%, and the comprehensive nickel and cobalt metal recovery rate can reach up to 99%. It is one of the leading enterprises in the battery recycling industry, ranking among the top three in terms of comprehensive battery processing capacity.

The lithium battery recycling business undertaken by the company has broad market prospects and huge economic potential. It can further diversify the supply channels of lithium raw materials and realize the resource recycling of metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese. Recycling retired batteries provides sustainable value-added solutions for battery manufacturers and electric vehicle manufacturers, further consolidating relationships with customers in the battery production business.

Furthermore, developing the recycling business allows for better synergy with the company’s other segments. The company possesses upstream lithium resources and also engages in lithium battery production. Recycling lithium batteries facilitates the recovery of raw materials and the reuse of recycled materials. It also creates advantages for the company’s entry into the power and energy storage fields, as we can commit to providing not only materials and batteries but also retired battery recycling services, further enhancing customer stickiness.

ICM: What are the Group’s values and commitment to sustainable development/the circular economy?

Xiaoshen Wang: Ganfeng Lithium always adheres to the sustainable development philosophy of “Utilize Limited Resources, Create Unlimited Value”, systematically promotes work related to the circular economy, fully implements circular economy management measures, and is committed to building highly intelligent integrated projects for comprehensive lithium battery recycling and utilization. We fully understand that the development of the circular economy helps ensure the supply security of key metal resources for the industry, effectively reduces environmental pollution from waste batteries, and promotes sustainable development.

As a global enterprise, the company pays close attention to circular economy industry policies both domestically and internationally. For example, the EU Battery Regulation stipulates that by 2035, the use of recycled materials in battery production for cobalt, nickel, and manganese must not be less than 20%, 12%, and 10% respectively. The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) approved by the EU Council proposes that at least 20% of key mineral raw materials must come from recycling by 2030. In China, the “Management Measures for the Recycling and Utilization of New Energy Vehicle Power Batteries” jointly issued by the MIIT and six other departments further specifies the specific requirement that the utilization rate of recycled materials must reach 60% by 2030. These all bring new development opportunities for the recycling industry. Ganfeng will also hold itself to higher standards and will gradually increase the proportion of recycled materials within its overall resource supply in the future.

ICM: How do you see this activity developing over the next few years? How is Ganfeng preparing the future of this industry?

Xiaoshen Wang: We believe that battery recycling will become a key source of raw materials in the future, and this business is crucial for realizing Ganfeng’s circular ecosystem. As you can see, the first batch of lithium batteries will soon reach their peak retirement period. According to CITIC Securities research data, the global scale of retired battery recycling is expected to exceed 830GWh by 2030. SNE from Korea predicts that the global retired battery recycling market size could reach 1.2 trillion yuan by 2040. By 2050, it is estimated that over 40% of battery raw materials will come entirely from recycled materials.

It is worth noting that lithium demand will continue to grow rapidly for a relatively long period. Relying solely on lithium resources from recycling businesses will be insufficient to meet this demand. A combination of lithium resources from mining and battery recycling may become the best choice for downstream end customers to meet future demand.

As an ecosystem enterprise with both lithium resource mining and recycling business, Ganfeng can not only ensure stable lithium resource supply through resource extraction but also provide lithium resources with recycled attributes through its recycling business, meeting customers compliance and environmental requirements for recycled materials.

Currently, Ganfeng has established recycling bases in eight cities including Sichuan, Ganzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Jinan, Guiyang, Qingdao, and Zhengzhou. In 2025, the nation’s largest green LFP recycling plant was officially completed and put into operation in Xinyu, Jiangxi. Additionally, we are also studying the possibility of expanding the battery recycling business overseas.

In terms of technology, we cooperate with multiple universities and research institutions to conduct research on cutting-edge battery recycling technologies, such as “Efficient and Clean Recycling Technology for Retired NCM Battery Materials”. We plan to further improve recycling efficiency from a technical perspective. Improving efficiency, on the other hand, brings us cost reduction, which in turn will further promote the sustainable development of our recycling business.