GB/T 44132-2024Recovery of traction battery used in electric vehicle - General requirements (English PDF)

3.1 Traction battery

traction battery: secondary battery that supplies energy to the power system of an electric vehicle.

secondary cell: basic unit device that converts chemical energy and electrical energy into each other. Note: also called a cell; it normally comprises electrodes, separator, electrolyte, case and terminals, and is designed to be rechargeable.

battery module: assembly of more than one secondary cell connected in series, in parallel or in series-parallel and used as a power source. Note: also called a battery group.

battery pack: unit that normally comprises the battery group, the battery management system, the battery case and the corresponding accessories (cooling components, connecting cables and the like), and that can take in electrical energy from outside and deliver electrical energy to the outside.

retired traction battery: traction battery removed from an electric vehicle because its residual capacity or other charge-discharge performance, or another cause, makes it unfit for further use in the vehicle.

waste and used traction battery: traction battery cell, module or pack scrapped during development, production, testing, storage, transport, use, maintenance, vehicle scrapping, echelon use and similar processes, and having lost its original use value.

3.2 Take-back

take-back: general term for the collecting, classification, storage and transport of waste and used traction batteries.

collecting: process of gathering and sorting waste and used traction batteries.

take-back service network: site where waste and used traction batteries are placed during collecting, classification, storage and packing. Note: according to scale, facilities and equipment, storage time and management requirements, take-back service networks are divided into collecting type, centralised-storage type and other types.

classification: process of distinguishing and grouping waste and used traction batteries according to product type, material system, degree of hazard and similar characteristics.

storage: activity of placing waste and used traction batteries during take-back, echelon use, recycling and similar processes.

packing: general name for the containers, materials and auxiliary items adopted by a defined technical method to protect the product and facilitate storage and transport during the circulation of waste and used traction batteries. Note: it also denotes the operation of applying those technical methods.

handling: activity of moving waste and used traction batteries a short distance from one place to another, outside the transport and the loading and unloading stages.

transportation: process of conveying waste and used traction batteries to a take-back service network or to a comprehensive-use enterprise.

loading and unloading: operation of loading properly packed waste and used traction batteries onto a transport vehicle, or unloading them from it, using a forklift, a crane or similar equipment.

safety case for waste and used traction battery: container used to store and transport waste and used traction batteries and to reduce their safety hazard.

discharge cabinet for waste and used traction battery: equipment used to discharge waste and used traction batteries.

3.3 Recovery

recovery: process of taking back and comprehensively using waste and used traction batteries.

comprehensive use: process of using waste and used traction batteries rationally at several levels and for several purposes. Note: comprehensive use includes echelon use and recycling.

echelon use: process by which a traction battery retired from a vehicle is applied again, as a whole or after dismantling, classification, testing, regrouping and assembly, in the form of a battery pack, a battery module or a cell, in target fields including but not limited to base-station backup power, energy storage and low-speed traction.

recycling: process of treating waste and used traction batteries by dismantling, shredding, separation, material repair or smelting in order to use them as resources.

remove: operation of separating the traction battery pack from the electric vehicle and taking it out.

residual cycle life: number of charge-discharge cycles a retired traction battery can still perform, under specified charge-discharge termination conditions and a specific charge-discharge rule, before its capacity, energy or power performance ceases to meet the specified standard.

discharge: process of releasing, in the form of electrical energy, the chemical energy stored in a waste and used traction battery.

physics discharging: discharge method in which a resistor or another conductive medium connects the positive and negative terminals so that electrical energy is converted into heat.

chemical discharging: discharge method in which the battery is placed in a conductive liquid and electrical energy is converted into chemical energy by an electrolytic reaction.

dismantling: operation of breaking down assemblies such as waste and used traction battery packs (groups), modules and cells.

treatment: process of extracting substances from waste and used traction batteries through processing steps such as dismantling, roasting, shredding, separation, leaching, purification and smelting.

disposal: activity of incinerating solid waste, or applying other physical, chemical or biological methods to it, so as to reduce its quantity or volume, or to reduce or eliminate its hazardous constituents; or of finally placing solid waste in a landfill that complies with environmental protection requirements.

pyrolyzation; roasting: process of heating waste and used traction batteries without melting them, so as to change their chemical composition or physical properties.

shredding: processing method that breaks down waste and used traction batteries, or reduces the size of pyrolysis products, by shearing, grinding, impact or compression.

separation: process in which shredded particles are separated by magnetic force, gravity, centrifugal force, air flow or similar forces according to differences in magnetism, density or suspension velocity, so that metals, metal compounds, graphite and other materials are separated and concentrated.

powder of battery material: powder obtained after dismantling a secondary cell, made up of one or more valuable constituents such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, iron and graphite.

pyrometallurgical recycling: process of extracting or refining metal alloys from waste battery chemicals at high temperature and of rendering part of the waste chemicals harmless.

hydrometallurgical recycling: process in which a leaching agent dissolves the valuable metal constituents of waste battery chemicals in a solution, or precipitates them as a new solid phase, so that the metals are separated, concentrated and extracted.

recyclability rate: mass of the substances of a battery product that are expected to be reused and/or recycled, expressed as a percentage of the total mass of the traction battery.

recoverability rate: sum of the masses of a new traction battery that can be reused, recycled and recovered for energy, expressed as a percentage of the mass of the whole battery pack product.

recycled material: material that has lost its original use value and has regained a use value through processing.

use rate of recycled materials: mass of one recycled element or recycled material in a traction battery, or in the raw materials used to produce it, expressed as a percentage of the mass of all the corresponding elements or materials in that battery or in those raw materials.

3.4 Green production

green factory: factory that has achieved intensive land use, harmless raw materials, clean production, waste recycling and low-carbon energy.

comprehensive energy consumption: sum, converted according to the specified calculation method and units, of the actual physical quantities of the various forms of energy consumed in producing a product or providing a service during the statistical reporting period.

comprehensive energy consumption for unit output of product: ratio of the comprehensive energy consumption to the output of conforming products (workload, work quantity, service quantity) during the statistical reporting period.

carbon footprint of the product; CFP: sum of the greenhouse gas emissions and removals caused by a product over its life cycle. Note: expressed as CO2e.

label of carbon footprint: information label that states the carbon footprint of a product and/or its carbon footprint grade.

green-design: activity of considering systematically, at the product design and development stage and according to the whole-life-cycle concept, the impact on resources and the environment of raw material selection, production, sale, use, recovery and treatment, so as to minimise resource consumption over the whole life cycle, to use as few raw materials containing toxic and harmful substances as possible or none at all, and to reduce the generation and discharge of pollutants.

green-design product: product that complies with the green-design concept and with the assessment requirements.

5.1 General requirements

Comprehensive-use enterprises for waste and used traction batteries should establish and operate a quality management system, an occupational health and safety management system, an environmental management system and an energy management system meeting GB/T 19001 (or an internationally advanced quality management system), GB/T 45001, GB/T 24001 and GB/T 23331. The management systems should be certified by a third-party body.

Comprehensive-use enterprises shall select production facilities and equipment with high production efficiency and advanced energy consumption indicators, and should give preference to intelligent dismantling equipment that accepts several types of battery pack and allows flexible dismantling.

Comprehensive-use enterprises should build green factories; a green factory shall comply with GB/T 36132-2018.

Comprehensive-use enterprises shall set up a carbon emission management system, including a carbon emission monitoring mechanism and data record management, and should be able to carry out organisation-level carbon emission accounting and product carbon footprint accounting and reporting on their own, in accordance with GB/T 32150 or the relevant industry standards.

Traction battery producers should carry out enterprise greenhouse gas emission accounting and reporting in accordance with GB/T 32150.

5.2 Requirements for traction battery products

Traction batteries shall be coded in accordance with GB/T 34014; the coded information shall be accurate and the code shall be legible, visible, durable and not easily replaced.

The dimensions of traction batteries should comply with GB/T 34013, and a standardised product structure that is easy to remove, easy to use in echelon and recyclable should be adopted, so as to raise the recyclability rate and the recoverability rate of the battery product.

Traction batteries should be accompanied by a table of technical information on removal and dismantling, stating the precautions relevant to recovery.

Traction batteries should preferentially use recycled materials as production raw material, so as to reduce the carbon footprint of the battery product.

The use rate of recycled materials in a traction battery shall be calculated in accordance with Annex A.

The battery label or the instructions for use shall carry the basic information on the battery (manufacturer information, battery code, battery type, recovery information and the like) and should also carry the proportion of recycled material in the battery materials (including but not limited to cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel), the product carbon footprint label and the product electronic label.

Traction battery products should be assessed as green-design products in accordance with GB/T 33761-2017.

5.3 Requirements for traceability management

Vehicle manufacturers, battery manufacturers, battery leasing bodies, end-of-life vehicle recycling and dismantling enterprises, take-back operators and comprehensive-use enterprises, and any other unit that generates waste and used traction batteries, shall carry out traceability management.

Those units shall establish an information traceability management system, keep and compile traceability information ledgers and upload the traceability information.

Vehicle manufacturers shall, within the prescribed time, submit and disclose the technical information on removal, dismantling and use of hazardous substances of the traction battery.

5.4 Safety requirements

Recovery enterprises shall draw up recovery work instructions, and recovery personnel shall observe them.

Recovery enterprises should replace manual operations with mechanised or automated operations, so as to improve the safety of recovery.

Recovery personnel shall be trained in safety knowledge, fire-protection knowledge and recovery skills; after passing the assessment they shall master the recovery process, its hazards, the emergency response methods and the use of fire-protection equipment and facilities.

Removal, residual capacity testing, dismantling and other activities involving live working shall be carried out by at least two persons, and the personnel involved shall hold a high-voltage or low-voltage electrician certificate.

Insulating gloves, safety helmets, insulating shoes, protective gloves, face shields and other labour safety protection equipment shall be provided, and recovery personnel shall wear and use it in accordance with GB 39800.1-2020.

Recovery enterprises shall provide fire extinguishers, sand boxes, fire hydrants and other fire-protection facilities and equipment.

Warning signs shall be placed according to the hazardous characteristics of the recovery work, such as high-voltage warning signs in live-working areas and no-open-flame signs in flammable and explosive areas.

The safety requirements for take-back service networks shall also meet 6.1 of GB/T 38698.2-2023.

5.5 Environmental protection requirements

Recovery enterprises shall hold the qualifications required by national laws and regulations; enterprises operating a hydrometallurgical recycling process should be located in a chemical industry park.

Waste and used traction batteries and their constituents shall not be discarded, dumped, landfilled directly or incinerated directly without any treatment.

The waste gas, waste liquid and waste generated during recovery shall be collected and used as a resource or disposed of in a harmless way, and shall not cause secondary pollution.

Dedicated classified collection and storage facilities that are corrosion-resistant, sturdy, fire-resistant and insulating shall be provided, together with environmental protection facilities for the disposal of toxic and harmful gases, waste water and waste residue; pollution control and discharge limits for the treatment of waste lithium-ion traction batteries shall follow HJ 1186-2021.

Pollutant discharge during the recovery of waste nickel-metal-hydride traction batteries shall meet Clause 7 of GB/T 33062-2016.

The enterprise shall have dedicated environmental protection management staff and shall establish a safety management system and an environmental monitoring and management system.

5.6 Requirements for emergency management of recovery

Recovery enterprises shall establish a safety and environmental protection emergency management system and shall draw up an emergency management plan for sudden environmental or safety incidents.

Recovery enterprises shall be able to respond to safety and environmental incidents, shall provide the dedicated apparatus and equipment for emergency rescue and emergency treatment, and shall organise emergency rescue and emergency treatment drills at regular intervals.

6.1 Requirements for removal

Pollution control during removal shall follow HJ 348.

The other requirements for removal shall follow GB/T 34015.2.

6.2 Requirements for collecting

Take-back service networks shall be established for the collecting of waste and used traction batteries; the construction, the operation and the safety, environmental protection and emergency requirements of those networks shall meet GB/T 38698.2-2023.

6.3 Requirements for classification

Before packing, storage and comprehensive use, waste and used traction batteries should first be classified according to the battery type, the differences in component composition, the intended use, the safety characteristics and the state of charge.

6.4 Requirements for packing and transporting

Before packing and transport, waste and used traction batteries shall undergo a safety assessment and be classified; the assessment and classification shall follow GB/T 38698.1-2020.

The positive and negative terminals shall be insulated before packing, and packing shall follow Clause 6 of GB/T 38698.1-2020.

The outer packaging shall carry a mark distinguishing the safety characteristic class of the battery and its state of charge, should carry marks for the other classifications, and shall carry the corresponding dangerous goods marks.

The transport case for waste and used traction batteries should comply with Table A.2 of GB/T 38698.2-2023.

The transport process shall be traceable through logistics information.

Before departure, the consignor shall follow the transport plan and confirm by observation that the safety state of the batteries is sound, that the stacking is reasonable, that the vehicle is in order and that the driver holds the required licences, and shall keep a photographic record.

Transport service personnel shall transport the batteries in accordance with Clause 7 of GB/T 38698.1-2020.

Vehicles complying with the rules for dangerous goods transport vehicles shall be used, and the marks specified in Clause 7 of JT/T 617.5-2018 shall be displayed at the front, the rear and both sides of the vehicle.

6.5 Requirements for loading, unloading and handling

Dedicated containers, or handling equipment that has been insulated, shall be used for the loading, unloading and handling of waste and used traction batteries.

Loading, unloading and handling shall be carried out separately according to the safety characteristic class of the batteries.

Batteries presenting a safety risk shall be protected in a safety case for waste and used traction batteries and handled separately.

The batteries shall be tied down and secured during loading, unloading and handling; the operator shall use conforming handling tools (forklift, trolley and the like), shall pick up and set down gently, and shall not subject the batteries to severe vibration, impact or compression.

Placement during handling shall take account of load, stacking layers and orientation, so as to prevent the materials from falling or being damaged.

The other loading and unloading requirements shall follow JT/T 617.6.

6.6 Requirements for storage

The storage of waste and used traction batteries shall follow 5.4 of GB/T 38698.2-2023; the requirements applicable to comprehensive-use enterprises are those for centralised-storage take-back service networks.

Rain and direct sunlight shall be kept off; the temperature, the humidity, the ventilation and the other ambient conditions of the site shall be controlled; the site shall be paved, leakage-proof and corrosion-proof and shall be provided with smoke alarms and other fire monitoring devices; the fire resistance rating of the site shall be not lower than grade two of GB 50016.

Different storage containers shall be selected according to the classification result of 6.4.1: class A battery packs (modules and cells) should be stored in wooden cases (cartons), on pallets or in turnover boxes, while class B and class C batteries should be stored in safety cases for waste and used traction batteries.

Waste and used traction batteries should be discharged before storage. Physical discharging should be used for batteries with an intact case; chemical discharging shall be used for severely damaged batteries that cannot be connected to a discharger.

A discharge cabinet or a brine pool (tank) may be used for discharging. Where a discharge cabinet is used, the cut-off voltage shall be determined according to the battery type and the mode of comprehensive use.

Waste and used traction batteries shall not be placed in the discharge cabinet equipment area and shall not be stored together with other items.

The safety of the stored batteries shall be checked at regular intervals; leakage of liquid, leakage of current, excessive temperature and other abnormalities, as well as unsuitable storage containers, shall be dealt with promptly.

The information on the batteries shall be registered: class, quantity, source, classification, date of entry, storage area, date of release and name of the receiving unit.

Batteries presenting hazardous characteristics shall be discharged, dismantled and insulated first, and may be stored only once the hazard has been removed.

7.1 Requirements for echelon use

Production requirements: waste and used traction batteries shall be used in echelon in preference; those that cannot be used in echelon, or that are scrapped after echelon use, shall be recycled.

Echelon use should be applied to the whole retired battery pack in preference, then to the battery module (group), and last to the cell.

The dismantling of waste and used battery packs and battery modules (groups) shall comply with GB/T 33598.

Retired traction batteries shall be assessed for safety and classified in accordance with Clause 4 of GB/T 38698.1-2020 and with 6.3 of this document; only class A batteries that also meet the echelon-use requirements laid down by the enterprise may be used in echelon.

The residual capacity of retired traction batteries shall be tested in accordance with GB/T 34015.

The residual life of retired traction batteries shall be assessed from their design service life, their time in service or another method.

The residual value of waste and used traction batteries shall be assessed, and echelon-use production regulated, in accordance with GB/T 34015.3.

Echelon-use enterprises shall take back the test pieces and defective items generated in the development, production and testing of their own echelon products, store them centrally and hand them over to a recycling enterprise.

Echelon-use enterprises shall discharge their producer responsibility, and should use leasing, exchange or similar arrangements so that echelon-use battery products can be traced and taken back once scrapped.

Product requirements: the design of echelon-use products should take account of electrical insulation, flame retardance, thermal management and battery management, so as to ensure their safety and reliability.

A standardised product structure that is easy to dismantle and recyclable should be adopted, so as to facilitate maintenance in service and disassembly and dismantling after scrapping, and to raise the recyclability rate of echelon-use products.

Echelon-use products shall be marked in accordance with GB/T 34015.4.

Echelon-use products shall bear a commodity bar code, shall be coded uniformly in accordance with GB/T 34014 and shall retain the code of the original traction battery.

Echelon-use products shall meet the standards and specifications of the sector in which they are applied: for communication base stations the safety performance shall meet GB 40165 and the electrical performance YD/T 3768.1; for electric energy storage the safety performance shall meet GB/T 36276 and the electrical performance DL/T 2315; for low-speed traction the safety and electrical performance shall meet GB/T 36972 and GB/T 36672.

Echelon-use products should pass a green-design product assessment and should bear a carbon footprint label stating the accounting standard used, the quantified carbon footprint and its grade.

7.2 Requirements for recycling

Production requirements: recycling enterprises should adopt an integrated whole-chain production layout running from battery take-back and dismantling through electrode material powder, metal salts and precursors to cathode materials.

Recycling enterprises should have a mechanised platform for the safe dismantling and recycling of waste and used traction batteries and a physical treatment process, including automated cell shredding and separation equipment.

Recycling enterprises shall have an industrially applied chemical treatment process - hydrometallurgical recycling, pyrometallurgical recycling or material repair - able to repair materials or extract elements; a compliant disposal plan shall be drawn up for the unusable residues, and enterprises without the corresponding capability shall hand them over to a qualified enterprise for centralised treatment as required by the State, while keeping track of them so that their environmentally sound disposal is ensured.

Waste and used traction batteries shall be discharged physically or chemically before dismantling. Physical discharging should preferably use an external circuit; chemical discharging should use immersion; discharging shall follow GB/T 33598.3, and battery modules should preferably be discharged in a discharge cabinet for waste and used traction batteries.

Waste and used traction batteries shall be dismantled by qualified personnel following the dismantling information supplied by the battery manufacturer; where no such information exists, dismantling shall follow QC/T 1156.

The pyrolysis of waste and used traction batteries shall take place in a closed reaction system fitted with a waste gas treatment system, and should follow HG/T 5816.

The exhaust gas generated during pyrolysis should be recovered for energy, so that waste heat use lowers the comprehensive energy consumption per unit of product.

Shredding and separation shall take place in a closed structure; the shredding and separation system shall be staged, so that the case, the current collector, the electrode material powder and the separator are recovered independently. Shredding and separation shall follow YS/T 1174.

The waste electrolyte and waste liquid generated during recycling should be treated and disposed of by the methods of GB/T 33060; waste coolant may be treated by reference to HG/T 5963.

The comprehensive recovery rate and the element recovery rates of hydrometallurgical recycling shall meet GB/T 33598.2; treatment methods for waste recovery may follow GB/T 33059 and GB/T 33062-2016, and the hydrometallurgical recovery technique may follow Annex A of GB/T 33598.2-2020.

Recycling enterprises shall establish an energy assessment system and provide the necessary energy metering instruments (water, electricity, natural gas and so on); energy consumption shall be controlled at every stage - transport, removal, storage, dismantling, testing and use - so as to lower the comprehensive energy consumption and the comprehensive energy consumption per unit of product and to raise energy efficiency.

Product requirements: recycled products shall comply with the corresponding product standard or with the customer's requirements.

Recycled products should pass a green-design product assessment and should bear a carbon footprint label stating the accounting standard used, the quantified carbon footprint and its grade.

Intermediate products obtained by hydrometallurgical recycling shall comply with: YS/T 1460 for crude nickel cobalt hydroxide; HG/T 5740 for crude cobalt carbonate; HG/T 5741 for crude nickel carbonate; YS/T 1552 for crude lithium carbonate.

Metal salt products obtained by recycling shall comply with: HG/T 5919 for nickel sulphate for battery; HG/T 2824 for industrial nickel sulphate; HG/T 5918 for cobalt sulphate for battery; HG/T 4822 for industrial cobalt sulphate; YS/T 582 for battery grade lithium carbonate; GB/T 26008 for battery grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate; YS/T 1568 for battery grade anhydrous lithium hydroxide.

Cathode material precursors obtained by recycling shall comply with GB/T 26300 for ternary precursors and HG/T 4701 for iron phosphate precursors.