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EXPERTS' CORNERLOOK FOR A NEW BATTERY RECYCLING ARTICLE EVERY QUARTER
REPRINTED FROM: BATTERY POWER PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY The Magazine of Batteries, Chargers, Testers & Power Management Components Recycling Technology 19 BATTERY RECYCLING MAKES $ENSE IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM By Chris Sova & Harve Mueller Tremendous opportunities exist in this New Age for advanced battery developments and safer and more cost-effective recycling. Communities, local, state and federal governments, businesses and the citizenry will continue to press for new regulations and technologies which will help to ensure the protection of our environment and health. Demand for batteries in the U.S. is projected to increase 5.8% every year through 2002. In 1998 there were over 3 billion industrial and household batteries sold in the United States alone. This demand for batteries will continue, spurred on by the ever growing technological advances in the battery industry and the portability of battery operated equipment. Battery Solutions, Inc. is committed to help advance a cleaner sustainable environment for present and future generations through the vital role our company has in the recycling process. RECYCLING FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT Lead Acid Battery Recycling The battery is broken apart in a hammer mill, a machine that hammers the battery into pieces. The broken battery pieces go into a vat where the lead and heavy materials fall to the bottom and the plastic floats. At this point, the polypropylene pieces are scooped away and the liquids are drawn off, leaving the lead and heavy metals. Each of the materials goes into a different "stream". Plastic The polypropylene pieces are washed, blown dry and sent to a plastic recycler where the pieces are melted together into an almost liquid state. The molten plastic is put through an extruder that produces small plastic pellets of a uniform size. The pellets are sold to a battery manufacturer of battery cases and the process begins again. Lead The lead grids, lead oxide and other lead parts are cleaned and then melted together at smelting furnaces. The molten lead is poured into ingot molds. Large ingots weighing 2,000 pounds are called hogs. Smaller ingots weighing 65 pounds are called pigs. After a few minutes, the impurities, otherwise known as dross, float to the top of the still molten lead in the ingot molds. The dross is scraped away and the ingots are left to cool. When the ingots are cool, they are removed from the molds and sent to battery manufacturers where they are re-melted and used in the production of new lead plates and other parts for new batteries. Sulfuric Acid Old battery acid can be handled in two ways. The acid is neutralized with an industrial compound similar to household baking soda. This turns the acid into water. The water is treated, cleaned and tested to be sure it meets clean water standards. Then it is released into the public sewer system. Another way to treat acid is to process it and convert it to sodium sulfate, an odorless white powder that's used in laundry detergent, glass and textile manufacturing. This takes a material that would be discarded and turns it into a useful product. Lead Acid Recycling Facts The lead battery industry is the nation's largest user of lead, consuming 80% of the lead in the country. For 10 consecutive years, lead acid batteries have topped the list of the most highly recycled consumer products with a 96.5% recycling rate in 1996. Every year, the battery industry reclaims 1.7 billion pounds of lead and about 1 billion pounds of plastic and returns both to the battery manufacturing process. If you start with a 40 pound battery, the material that's left over after recycling weighs just a few ounces? about as much as a car key. That's diverting a lot of material out of the waste stream and provides closed loop recycling by delivering the reclaimed lead and plastic back to manufacturing batteries? an economic model that works very successfully. Attention experts' corner lovers. Our next article is coming to our website in April don't miss it. Acknowledgement This article was prepared by Messrs. Chris Sova, President & Harve Mueller, Vice President respectively of Battery Solutions, Inc. and appeared in recent issues of Battery Power Products & Technology & Recycling Today magazines. Mr. Chris Sova has gained a significant reputation and expertise with 25 years of providing battery waste management services nationally. Contact them at
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