A retired power battery recycling project with a Phase I nameplate capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year was officially signed in Liyang, Jiangsu province, on September 23, according to industry sources cited by Shanghai Metals Market.

Phase I carries a total investment of RMB 400 million (roughly $60 million). The project will repurpose 17,000 m² of idle plant space and install two lithium battery recycling lines plus one lithium battery restoration line. Once Phase I reaches full operation, the site is expected to process 50,000 tonnes of retired power batteries annually and generate estimated annual sales of RMB 500 million, serving retired battery recycling demand across the Yangtze River Delta region.

The numbers position the Liyang facility among the mid-to-large tier of China's growing fleet of end-of-life battery processors. At 50,000 tpa from Phase I alone, the site would handle a material stream dominated by lithium iron phosphate and ternary packs exiting electric vehicles and energy storage installations in one of China's most industrialized EV markets.

Phase II ambitions are considerably larger. Plans call for ten dedicated power battery recycling lines with total investment exceeding RMB 1 billion, which the project backers describe as the foundation for a standardized retired battery recycling demonstration base serving the Yangtze River Delta.

It is worth separating what is committed from what is proposed. The RMB 400 million Phase I, including its two recycling lines and one restoration line, is signed and landed; the RMB 1 billion-plus, ten-line Phase II remains a plan without a disclosed construction timeline. The restoration line is a notable inclusion — battery restoration, or echelon utilization, extends pack life before final material recovery, and its presence at Liyang signals the operator intends to capture value at both stages of the battery lifecycle.

The location itself is strategic. Liyang sits in Changzhou, a Jiangsu city that has built a dense lithium battery manufacturing cluster, and the Yangtze River Delta region it will serve hosts some of China's highest concentrations of EV production and sales. Feedstock availability — the binding constraint on most recycling economics — is unlikely to be the limiting factor here as first-generation EV packs reach retirement in increasing volumes.

The announcement lands amid a broader consolidation in China's battery recycling sector, where capacity has expanded faster than feedstock supply and smaller operators have faced margin pressure from volatile black mass and lithium salt prices. Projects of this scale, backed by commitments to standardized processing, reflect the industry's shift toward fewer, larger, better-capitalized facilities.

What happens next hinges on Phase I execution: construction and commissioning milestones for the two recycling lines, throughput ramp toward the 50,000-tonne annual target, and eventually a firm investment decision and schedule for the ten-line Phase II. Watch for those markers to determine whether Liyang becomes the Yangtze River Delta demonstration base its backers envision or another partially realized announcement.