Lead Battery Recycling

Disassembling Used Lead Batteries in Vietnam

Lead is easily melted down for reuse and therefore lead batteries are rarely discarded as waste. Recycling lead by melting down used batteries (also known as secondary smelting) is a profitable business throughout the world. Unfortunately, recycling lead from used batteries is known to result in high lead exposures that can cause severe health effects and contaminate the environment unless adequate equipment is used and procedures to minimize emissions are followed.

In many developing countries individuals working on the side of the road or in “backyard smelters” carry out lead battery recycling. Because of the primitive nature of these operations and their enormous number (estimated to be in the tens of thousands) the control of lead poisoning from the contamination of homes and the environment is a major challenge. In 2008 at least 18 children died and many more were poisoned from lead in Dakar, Senegal after exposure to contaminated dust and soil from the recycling of used lead batteries.

Large-scale recycling facilities are also known to be significant sources of lead exposure in many parts of the world. There are dozens of examples of informal and even large lead battery recycling plants that have been the source of lead poisoning among workers and local residents.

An Open Furnace is Used to Melt Batteries in Kolkata, India

Lead Battery Collection

National collection systems are needed to direct used lead batteries to environmentally sound recycling facilities. To be effective, the collection a system must provide financial incentives such as purchase discount or a deposit system. If designed correctly, such a program can gradually bring the informal sector to operate as collectors (and not recyclers) and contribute to its success. Laws establishing specific responsibilities on battery producers and mandatory fees (discount or deposits) are necessary to improve product stewardship.

China, India and some other countries already have general laws requiring lead battery manufacturers to take back used batteries for recycling. However, these are largely ineffective because they don’t provide financial incentives and do not impose penalties for noncompliance. For example, the Indian Battery Management and Handling Rules, require lead battery manufacturers to collect a minimum of 90% of the batteries sold through dealers. The law established an extensive reporting system to track the supply chain. In order to evaluate compliance with this law, OK International obtained individual company reports filed with the government. The data indicates that very few companies are complying with this law and even large battery producers are falling short of the mandatory provisions in this standard. See OK International’s report investigating India’s used battery collection.

Environmental Benefits of Improved Recycling

Recycling lead used in batteries improves the utilization of the metal, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and saves energy. However, informal sector recycling carried out by dismantling batteries and melting down the material in open vessels or crude furnaces can easily result in 50 percent of the lead to be lost to the environment. The recovered lead from most of these processes is of very poor quality and unusable for making new high quality lead batteries without additional refinement.

Improving recycling practices will provide significant energy savings and result in less greenhouse gas emissions. Recovering lead from used batteries is much less energy intensive than producing primary lead from ore – using approximately 39% less energy than that needed to produce lead from mining and resulting in a 39% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.