China opens recycled battery black mass imports; firms seek 10,000t+

Lithium‑Ion Battery Black Mass Imports Become Routine: From “Solid Waste” to “Urban Mining” – An Industrial Leap

BEIJING – In a laboratory of a full‑value‑chain power battery company, the general manager showed a reporter a bottle of lithium‑ion battery recycled black mass. “This is the anode‑cathode mixed powder obtained through pre‑treatment processes including discharge, dismantling, pyrolysis, crushing, and air classification,” he said. “Its grades of valuable metals such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium are far higher than those of primary ores – it is a quintessential ‘urban mine’ resource. Our company has designated this recycled powder, together with spent power cells, as a long‑term strategic sourcing target, with the aim of building a closed‑loop system from overseas recycling to domestic remanufacturing.”

I. Policy Breakthrough: Black Mass Removed from “Solid Waste” Catalogue, Opening International Feedstock Channels

In June 2025, six government departments, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the General Administration of Customs, jointly announced that, effective 1 August 2025, recycled black mass for lithium‑ion batteries meeting national standards (GB/T 44132‑2024) would no longer be managed as solid waste. This regulatory innovation directly resolved the previous bottleneck that kept such recycled powders out of China under the “foreign garbage” import ban, and opened a compliant import channel for overseas recycled materials for China’s lithium‑ion battery industry.

II. Material Value: The Economic and Environmental Case of a High‑Grade “Mobile Mine”

The company’s head provided a straightforward mass‑balance calculation based on the first shipment:

• The initial 47‑tonne black mass shipment, upon testing, showed nickel (Ni) grades of approximately 33%, cobalt (Co) about 11%, and lithium (Li) about 6.5%, allowing for the extraction of roughly 13.2 tonnes of nickel, 4.4 tonnes of cobalt, and 2.6 tonnes of lithium.

• This is equivalent to replacing the mining of about 3,000 tonnes of nickel ore, 1,100 tonnes of cobalt ore, and 200 tonnes of spodumene/lepidolite ore.

• On a full‑life‑cycle carbon‑footprint basis, each 10,000 tonnes of imported black mass avoids about 30,000 tonnes of primary ore extraction and reduces CO₂‑equivalent emissions by 25,000 tonnes.

“Against the backdrop of surging global demand for NCM precursors and battery‑grade lithium carbonate / lithium hydroxide in the energy transition, recycled black mass is no longer solid waste but a high‑concentration carrier of strategic metals. That is why we are also openly procuring spent cells as a supplementary upstream feedstock,” the executive stressed.

III. Large‑Scale Procurement Plan: A Long‑Term Global Sourcing Offer

The company has clearly stated that its procurement scope covers:

• Compliant recycled black mass (meeting limits on fluorine content, magnetic impurities, moisture, and trace elements such as arsenic and chromium); and

• Dismantled and discharged spent lithium‑ion cells (including both NCM and LFP chemistries).

Over the coming year, the company plans to raise its annual import volume to tens of thousands of tonnes. It is already developing pre‑treatment and warehousing facilities at Tianjin and Ningbo ports to ensure rapid turnover of incoming materials. To date, it has signed long‑term memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with multiple overseas recyclers.

IV. Full‑Chain Execution Challenges: From Quality Control to Customs Compliance

“The policy gave us a green light, but there was no operational precedent,” the general manager admitted. His team tackled the following professional challenges in practice:

1. Feedstock quality control – Overseas black mass batches showed significant variability in water‑soluble fluoride (F⁻) , magnetic metal particulates, and heavy metals (e.g., cadmium, lead). The project team conducted batch‑by‑batch sampling and testing against 11 national‑standard parameters until they locked in qualified sources.

2. Pricing model – Black mass purchase prices are linked to LME (London Metal Exchange) nickel, cobalt, and copper prices, and also factor in ocean freight costs and the working‑capital costs associated with the customs‑clearance cycle. The company established a dynamic hedging and cost‑estimation model.

3. Hazardous‑material logistics – Powdered cargo is prone to moisture ingress, oxidation, or leakage during long‑sea voyages. The company, in collaboration with customs and shipping lines, designed sealed, moisture‑proof containers with built‑in desiccants and shock‑absorbing devices, and arranged special transport insurance.

4. Customs inspection – Tianjin Xingang Customs set up dedicated documentation‑review and inspection protocols, focusing on key indicators such as nickel/cobalt/lithium main‑element content and water‑soluble fluorides, to ensure rapid release upon arrival.

V. Closed‑Loop Economics: From “Overseas Recycling” to “Battery Remanufacturing”

The first black‑mass shipment has already been delivered to downstream hydrometallurgical processors. Through acid leaching, solvent extraction, precipitation, and other unit operations, they are producing battery‑grade lithium carbonate and high‑purity nickel sulphate / cobalt sulphate, which are then supplied to cathode material plants for synthesising NCM precursors or LFP (lithium iron phosphate) , and ultimately used in new battery assembly. This completes the full‑life‑cycle closed loop:

Overseas recycling → compliant import → domestic deep processing → cathode material remanufacturing → cell production → vehicle application

Industry Observation

The company’s large‑scale procurement intention will push recyclers in Europe, the Americas, and Southeast Asia to upgrade their shredding and sorting lines, improving black‑mass purity and impurity controllability to meet Chinese import standards. For overseas recyclers, this is not only a market opportunity but also a compliance‑upgrade window aligned with China’s circular‑economy requirements.

Recycling of waste batteries, electrode sheet black mass, and slurry. Supply of energy storage cells for two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
Contact: Mr. Huang, +86 13590163009