Decisions for power battery closed-loop supply chain: cascade utilization and extended producer responsibility

This study explores the influence of cascade utilization and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulation on the closed-loop supply chain of power batteries. Three pricing decision models are established under the recycling model of the battery closed-loop supply chain are established in this paper: benchmark model, EPR regulatory model disregarding cascade utilization, and EPR policy model under cascade utilization. Our findings indicate that adopting cascade utilization can boost supply chain profits when the revenue from waste battery recycling is low. However, EPR regulation may dampen the battery manufacturer’s profits and those of the vehicle manufacturer. The third-party collector experiences increased profits when the resource recycling revenue is low, while the energy storage station consistently benefits notably from the EPR regulation. For unregulated battery processing, stricter EPR enforcement is required to achieve better environmental outcomes. During periods of high recycling revenue, EPR regulations can balance supply chain profits and prevent battery manufacturer monopolies. Although both cascade utilization and EPR improve environmental performance, only the former increases consumer welfare.