[SMM Tin Morning Brief: The Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract Surged Sharply Late in the Night Session and Closed at a High, While Downstream Enterprises Showed Weak Purchase Willingness]

As the global energy transition accelerates, the NEV industry is booming at an unprecedented pace. Behind this green transformation, battery recycling—a critical link tied to resource security, environmental protection, and the sustainable development of industry—has quietly emerged as a new industry worth hundreds of billions. From an “environmental burden” to an “urban mine,” the battery recycling industry is demonstrating unprecedentedly broad prospects. Strong policy support has laid a solid foundation for the development of the battery recycling industry. In February 2025, the Executive Meeting of the State Council reviewed and approved the Action Plan for Improving the Recycling System for NEV Power Batteries, explicitly proposing the improvement of the standards system to achieve standardized, safe, and efficient recycling and utilization of power batteries. More importantly, the Interim Measures for the Administration of the Recycling and Comprehensive Utilization of Retired NEV Power Batteries, which will officially take effect on April 1, 2026, marks a new stage in the law-based and standardized management of power battery recycling and utilization in China. The core provisions of this new regulation, jointly issued by six departments including the MIIT, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, include: Establishing a digital ID system: generating a unique and dynamic digital ID for each power battery pack to enable full life cycle flow monitoring and information-based traceability Implementing the “vehicle-battery integrated retirement” system: retired NEVs must include their power batteries to prevent battery loss Clarifying the responsibilities of all parties: power battery enterprises and NEV producers must establish recycling service outlets and assume fallback responsibility for collection Defining red lines for comprehensive utilization: enterprises engaged in the comprehensive utilization of retired power batteries must complete the relevant procedures in accordance with the law, and such batteries are prohibited from being used in restricted fields such as e-bikes Battery recycling is not only an industry, but also a green revolution concerning the sustainable development of humanity. From policy support to technological innovation, and from resource security to industrial upgrading, China’s battery recycling industry is advancing at an unprecedented speed and with unprecedented intensity. As the 14th Five-Year Plan is implemented in greater depth and the “dual carbon” goals continue to advance, this “urban mine” of battery recycling will release enormous economic, environmental, and social value, contributing China’s wisdom and solutions to the global energy transition and the development of the circular economy.

Recently, Hyundai Motor Group signed a cooperation agreement with Zhejiang Huayou Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. to jointly build an EV power battery recycling system in Indonesia. The cooperation covers the recycling and reuse of battery production scrap and end-of-life batteries, aiming to achieve a closed-loop resource system across the entire battery life cycle. Background of the Cooperation As the world’s largest nickel producer, Indonesia is pushing with unprecedented determination to transform itself from a raw material exporter into a global EV battery manufacturing hub. According to the Indonesian government’s plan, by 2030 the country will achieve total EV battery capacity of 100 GWh and plan to produce about 600,000 pure EVs annually. The HLI Green Power battery plant, jointly established in Indonesia by Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution, is a key part of this strategy. Located in Karawang, West Java, the plant has a total investment of $1.1 billion and began operations in 2024. It has annual capacity of 10 GWh and can supply battery cells for more than 150,000 EVs. The plant mainly supports EV models of Hyundai Motor Group in Southeast Asia, India, and other markets. However, with the rapid expansion of battery capacity, the disposal of end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap has become an increasingly prominent issue. The Indonesia Battery Association forecasts that by 2030 the country’s end-of-life power batteries will reach 120,000 mt. But the existing recycling system has clear shortcomings: insufficient processing capacity, lack of technical standards, and more than 70% of processing handled through informal recycling channels. In the suburbs of Jakarta, multiple open-air acid-leaching lithium workshops have even emerged, causing soil heavy metal levels to exceed EU limits by 50 times. This cooperation carries multiple implications for the development of Indonesia’s battery industry and even that of Southeast Asia as a whole: Improving the Local Industry Chain: Through the New Energy Law, the Indonesian government has designated EVs as a national strategic industry and requires foreign automakers to commit to building battery plants in Indonesia, with 40% local sourcing of parts to be achieved by 2027. The cooperation between Hyundai Motor and Huayou Recycling helps Indonesia build a complete industry chain spanning mineral extraction, battery manufacturing, and recycling. Addressing Resource Challenges: Although Indonesia is rich in nickel resources, it produces almost no cobalt, and its lithium resources depend on imports from Australia. Through battery recycling, it can partially reduce its import dependence on critical minerals and improve resource security. Attracting More Investment: The Indonesian government has introduced fiscal incentives such as zero import tariffs, exemption from luxury sales tax, and a reduction in VAT from 11% to 1%, to attract foreign investment into the battery industry. The battery recycling cooperation in Indonesia between Hyundai Motor Group and Huayou Recycling is not only a commercial move by the two enterprises, but also a reflection of the global battery industry's transition toward a circular economy. With the rapid expansion of the EV market, battery recycling has shifted from an environmental protection issue to a matter of resource strategy and economics.

SMM March 31 News: For Lithium battery recycling, the purchase volume of black mass by downstream hydrometallurgy recycling enterprises, up 48% MoM,

Recycling Industry Events This Week (December. 29-31)

Recycling Industry Events This Week (December. 29-31)

As April 1, 2026 approaches, China’s battery recycling industry is at a historic turning point. The Interim Measures for the Administration of Recycling and Comprehensive Utilization of Retired NEV Power Batteries (hereinafter the “Measures”), jointly issued by six ministries including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, is expected to officially take effect. Hailed as the “strictest in history,” the new regulation marks the industry’s formal entry into an era of stringent, law-based and standardized supervision. China’s NEV sector has been experiencing explosive growth. In 2025, China’s NEV production and sales reached 16.626 million units and 16.49 million units, up 29% and 28.2% YoY, respectively, with NEV new-vehicle sales accounting for 47.9% of total new-vehicle sales. As the capacity of power batteries in previously sold and deployed NEVs continues to degrade, China is about to enter a phase of large-scale power-battery retirements. However, behind the enormous market potential lie daunting challenges. For a long time, the power-battery recycling industry has been characterized by a landscape that is “small, scattered, and disorderly.” A large number of unlicensed small workshops, relying on cost advantages, bid high to seize supply sources of retired batteries, resulting in the distorted phenomenon where “formal players cannot get enough, while small workshops are everywhere.” With the rollout and implementation of the new regulation, the power-battery recycling industry is set to undergo profound changes. Ming Yuebin, Vice President of Battery Technology Co., Ltd., noted: “By strengthening oversight over the recycling and post-processing stages, the new Measures will gradually phase out enterprises that fail to meet environmental protection and safety requirements, and promote the industry’s long-term, healthy development.” In the long run, healthy industry development will also require sustained efforts in technological innovation and public participation. Enterprises need to continuously enhance the intelligentization of recycling and processing, reducing costs and improving efficiency through technological upgrades. Consumers should also strengthen their sense of responsibility, proactively hand retired batteries over to formal channels, and resist the temptation of ‘high-price recycling.’ April 1, 2026 is not only the effective date of a regulation; it is also the watershed moment for China’s battery recycling industry as it shifts from unchecked growth to standardized development. As the era of “formal players” arrives, the 100-billion-yuan-scale power-battery recycling market is set to undergo a value re-rating, laying a solid foundation for the sustainable development of the NEV industry.

Since the beginning of 2026, the lithium battery materials industry has seen a new wave of structural positioning led by chemical giants. In March, Dazhong Mining announced that it planned to sign a tripartite agreement with the Meishan High-tech Zone Administrative Committee and Wanhua Chemical (Sichuan) Battery Materials Technology Co., Ltd. to jointly invest in and build a “200,000 mt/year lithium chemicals project,” with Phase I expected to be planned at 30,000 mt.

On March 27, the 2026 SMM (21st) Lead & Zinc Conference and Industry Expo, organized by SMM, wrapped up successfully at Howard Johnson Agile Plaza in Chengdu, Sichuan!

On March 17, an environmental protection technology company in Yangquan proposed the construction of the "Annual 120,000-ton Spent New Energy Power Battery Comprehensive Utilization Project." Phase I of the project involves the dismantling and crushing of 20,000 tons of spent new energy power batteries and the cascade utilization of 5,000 tons of spent new energy batteries.