Developing new energy vehicles (NEVs) is necessary to grow the low-carbon vehicle industry. Many concentrated end-of-life (EoL) power batteries will cause large-scale environmental pollution and safety accidents when the time comes to replace the first generation of batteries if improper recycling and disposal methods are utilized. Significant negative externalities will result for the environment and other economic entities. When recycling EoL power batteries, some countries need to solve problems about lower recycling rates, unclear division of echelon utilization scenarios, and incomplete recycling systems. Therefore, this paper first analyzes representative countries' power battery recycling policies and finds out the reasons for the low recycling rate in some countries. It is also found that echelon utilization is the critical link to EoL power battery recycling. Secondly, this paper summarizes the existing recycling models and systems to form a complete closed-loop recycling process from the two stages of consumer recycling and corporate disposal of batteries. The policies and recycling technologies are highly concerned with echelon utilization, but few studies focus on analyzing application scenarios of echelon utilization. Therefore, this paper combines cases to delineate the echelon utilization scenarios clearly. Based on this, the 4R EoL power battery recycling system is proposed, which improves the existing recycling system and can recycle EoL power batteries efficiently. Finally, this paper analyzes the existing policy problems and existing technical challenges. Based on the actual situation and future development trends, we propose development suggestions from the government, enterprises, and consumers to achieve the maximum reused of EoL power batteries.
Keywords: EoL power batteries; circular economy; echelon utilization; recycle methods; recycle system.