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New Basel Treaty Guidelines to Improve Recycling of Old Batteries

In an effort to reduce the global risk of lead poisoning, the Basel Convention on hazardous wastes has finalized a set of guidelines promoting the environmentally sound recycling of spent lead-acid batteries - the number one source of secondary lead in the world. Read More

(Updated on July 24, 2024)

In an effort to reduce the global risk of lead poisoning, the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes has finalized a set of guidelines promoting the environmentally sound recycling of spent lead-acid batteries – the number one source of secondary lead in the world.

The new Basel treaty guidelines aim to improve the management of lead-acid batteries by enabling governments to develop the necessary legislation and facilities for coping with the dramatic growth in the quantity of used batteries. They offer governments and industry a set of best practices and principles for setting up effective systems for recycling batteries. According to the guidelines, rigorous controls, economic incentives, appropriate technologies, and stable market conditions are the keys to safety.

“The recycling of lead-acid batteries is one of the greatest potential sources of risk, especially for exposed workers in the informal sector in many developing countries,” said Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, under whose auspices the Basel Convention was adopted. “The safe recycling of these batteries requires strict environmental and occupational standards that can only be ensured by specialized firms, of which only a few are found in developing countries.”

In many developing countries, retired batteries are still broken manually using an axe, posing extreme health risks to workers. Inhaling dust, fumes, or vapours dispersed in the workplace air can lead to acute lead poisoning. According to UNEP, the more common problem, however, is chronic poisoning from absorbing low amounts of lead over long periods of time.

Malleable and resistant to corrosion, lead is the most widely used metal in the world, after iron. Of the 2.5 million tons produced worldwide every year, some 75% goes into the lead-acid batteries used in automobiles, industrial facilities, and portable tools.

Obtaining secondary lead from old batteries is economically attractive, cutting about 25% from the energy bill compared with mining primary lead. In addition, batteries are a ubiquitous product with a predictable lifetime, and the large market for recycled lead creates economies of scale. As a result, battery manufacturers rely heavily on secondary lead, most of it sourced from recycled batteries. Some of the lead recycled from batteries in the informal sector, however, does not re-enter the manufacturing sector but is used instead for other purposes, such as sinkers for fishing lines.

The 64-page guidelines describe how to collect, transport, and store used batteries, arguing that the most effective approach to collection is to rely on manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, and service stations to retain the old battery at the time a new one is provided to the customer. The guidelines give specifications for the storage chambers and transport facilities and describe how batteries delivered to the recycling plant should be drained of their electrolytes, identified and segregated, and stored. Finally, the recovered lead must be refined in order to remove unwanted contaminants. The guidelines also address medical issues and public awareness.

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