As China’s new energy vehicle production grows rapidly, with half of global production now coming from China, the huge amount of retired batteries could bring “disastrous” environmental problems  and “explosive pollution,” says state-owned media Xinhua. According to Xinhua, the cumulative retired batteries in China will had reached 200,000 tons (about 25 GWh) in 2020 and will grow to 780,000 tons (about 116 GWh) by 2025. However, more than half of the retired batteries are not recycled via proper channels, but are “snapped up” by unqualified small factories that don’t invest much in environmental protection, the report says. Generally speaking, the service life of new energy vehicle batteries is about 5-8 years. If the retired batteries are not properly disposed of, they will bring disastrous pollution to the environment, despite the fact that these new energy vehicles were designed to be “clean” and environmentally friendly. Professor Wu Feng at Beijing Institute …