\nLead- and cadmium-based batteries pose the largest environmental \nconcerns, so much so that nickel-cadmium was banned in Europe in 2009. \nAttempts are being made to also ban the lead-based battery, but no \nsuitable replacement is available as was the case by substituting \nnickel-cadmium with nickel-metal-hydride. For the first time, \nlithium-ion has been added to the list of pollutants. This chemistry was\n classified as only mildly toxic, but their sheer volume requires \ntighter scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nLead acid paved the way to the success of recycling, and today more than\n 97 percent of these batteries are recycled in the USA. The automotive \nindustry should be given credit for having organized recycling early; \nhowever, business reasons rather than environmental concerns may have \nbeen the driving force. The recycling process is simple and 70 percent \nof the battery\u2019s weight is reusable lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nOver 50 percent of the lead supply comes from recycled batteries. Other \nbattery types are not as economical to recycle and are not being \nreturned as readily as lead acid. Several organizations are working on \nprograms to make the collection of all batteries convenient. Only 20 to \n40 percent of batteries in mobile phones and other consumer products are\n currently recycled. The goal of recycling is to prevent hazardous \nmaterials from entering landfills and to utilize the retrieved materials\n in the fabrication of new products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nSpent batteries should be removed from the household. Old primary cells \nare known to leak and cause damage to the surrounding area. Do not store\n old lead acid batteries where children play. Simply touching the lead \npoles can be harmful. Also, keep button cells hidden from small children\n as they can swallow these batteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nEven though environmentally unfriendly, lead acid batteries continue to \nhold a strong market niche, especially as a starter battery. Wheeled \nmobility and UPS systems could not run as economically if it were not \nfor this reliable battery. NiCd also continues to hold a critical \nposition among rechargeable batteries as large flooded NiCds start jet \nairplanes and propel sightseeing boats in rivers of larger cities. \nAlthough pollution-free, these batteries are in decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nBatteries with toxic substances will continue to be with us and there is\n nothing wrong in using them as long as they are being disposed of \nproperly. Each battery chemistry has its own recycling procedure and the\n process begins by sorting the batteries into the correct categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nLead Acid: Recycling of lead acid began with the introduction of the \nstarter battery in 1912. The process is simple and cost-effective as \nlead is easy to extract and can be reused multiple times. This led to \nmany profitable businesses and the recycling of other batteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIn late 2013, smelters started to report an increased number of Li-ion \nbatteries being mixed in with lead acid, especially in starter \nbatteries. This can cause fires, leading to explosion and personal \ninjury. The physical appearance of lead acid and Li-ion packs are \nsimilar and sorting at high volume poses a challenge. For consumers, a \nbattery is a battery and folks are enticed to recycle all batteries, \nnever mind the chemistry. As more lead acid are being replaced with \nLi-ion, the problem will only escalate. From 2010\u20132013, there has been a\n 10-fold increase in reported incidents of infiltration of Li-ion with \nlead acid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nPlease note that Li-ion is more volatile when stripped than lead acid. \nPresorting is done for safety reasons and not to separate hazardous \nmaterial. Lead acid is benign but toxic, Li-ion is non-malignant but \nexplosive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the International \nElectrotechnical Commission (IEC) initiate action through increased \nawareness, employee training, battery identification and labeling. X-ray\n technologies to separate batteries are being explored and \u201cwho carries \nthe liability?\u201d is being asked. Battery manufacturers put the \nresponsibility on the recyclers who in turn argue that the burden and \nsustainability of a product must be borne by the manufacturer. The \ncourts may become the arbitrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nNickel-cadmium: When NiCd batteries are disposed of carelessly, the \nmetallic cell cylinder eventually corrode in the landfill. Cadmium \ndissolves and seeps into the water supply. Once contamination begins, \nauthorities are helpless to stop the carnage. Our oceans already show \ntraces of cadmium (along with aspirin, penicillin and antidepressants) \nbut scientists are not certain of its origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nNickel-metal-hydride: Nickel and the electrolyte in NiMH are semi-toxic.\n If no disposal service is available in an area, individual NiMH \nbatteries can be discarded with other household waste in small \nquantities; however, with 10 or more batteries, the user should consider\n disposal them in a secure waste landfill. The better alternative is \ntaking the spent batteries to a neighborhood drop-off bin for recycling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nPrimary Lithium: These batteries contain metallic lithium that reacts \nviolently when in contact with moisture and must be disposed of \nappropriately. If thrown in a landfill in a charged state, heavy \nequipment operating on top could crush the cases and the exposed lithium\n could ignite a fire. Landfill fires are difficult to extinguish and can\n burn for years underground. Before recycling, apply a full discharge to\n consume the lithium content. Primary lithium batteries (lithium-metal) \nare used in military combat, as well as in watches, sensors, hearing \naids and memory backup. A lithium-metal variety also serves as alkaline \nreplacement in AAA, AA and 9V formats. Li-ion for mobile phones and \nlaptops do not contain metallic lithium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nLithium-ion: Li-ion is reasonably harmless but spent packs should be \ndisposed of properly. This is done less to retrieve valuable metals, as \nis the case with lead acid, than for environmental reasons, especially \nwith the growing volume used in consumer products. Li-ion contains \nharmful elements that are at the toxicity level of electronic devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAlkaline: After lowering the mercury content in alkaline batteries in \n1996, many territories now allow disposing these batteries as regular \ndomestic trash; however, California considers all batteries hazardous \nwaste. In Europe, lead acid, NiCd, mercury containing batteries, \nunsorted collections of multiple battery types, and battery electrolytes\n are considered hazardous waste. All others can pass as non-hazardous. \nMost stores selling batteries are also required to take back spent \nbatteries. Alkaline batteries contain the reusable materials of zinc and\n manganese but the retrieval process is a liability. Efforts are made to\n increase the recycling of alkaline cells from the low 4 percent in 2015\n to 40 percent in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIn North America, Retriev Technologies, formerly Toxco, and the \nRechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) collect spent \nbatteries and recycle them. While Retriev has its own recycling \nfacilities, RBRC is in charge of collecting batteries and sending them \nto recycling organizations. Retriev in Trail, British Columbia, claims \nto be the only company in the world that recycles large lithium \nbatteries. They receive spent batteries from oil drilling in Nigeria, \nIndonesia and other places. They also recycle retired lithium batteries \nfrom the Minuteman missile silos and tons of Li-ion from war efforts. \nOther divisions at Retriev recycle nickel-cadmium, nickel-metal-hydride,\n lead, mercury, alkaline and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nEurope and Asia are also active in recycling spent batteries. Among \nother recycling companies, Sony and Sumitomo Metal in Japan and Umicore \nin Belgium have developed technology to retrieve cobalt and other \nprecious metals from spent lithium ion batteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nUmicore uses an ultra-high temperature (UHT) processes to recycle Li-ion\n and NiMH batteries. Spent packs are dismantled and melted in an UHT \nfurnace. The derbies are separated into metal alloy containing copper, \ncobalt and nickel, and slag, a stony waste containing rare earth metals.\n Slag can be further processed to recover lithium, but producing \nbattery-grade lithium is not yet economical and the slag is used for \nconstruction. Methods are being developed to extract lithium for \nreprocessing into lithium carbonate for Li-ion production. With an \nanticipated 10-fold growth in the use of Li-ion batteries between 2020 \nand 2030, the reuse of lithium could become economical so the metals end\n up in battery production again much like lead for lead acid batteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>30% off when you buy online – Laptop Batteries, Chargers and AC Adapters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lead- and cadmium-based batteries pose the largest environmental concerns, so much so that nickel-cadmium was banned in Europe in 2009. Attempts are being made to also ban the lead-based battery, but no suitable replacement is available as was the case by substituting nickel-cadmium with nickel-metal-hydride. For the first time, lithium-ion has been added to the … Continue reading “How to Recycle Batteries”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[370],"class_list":["post-321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tips","tag-recycle-batteries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}