Recycling of used lead acid batteries
Practical Action
The aim is to cut the amount of hazardous substances - in particular, mercury, cadmium and
lead - dumped in the environment; this should be done by reducing the use of these
substances in batteries and accumulators and by treating and re-using the amounts that are
used (source: http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l21202.htm).
Conclusion
Recycling of lead acid batteries is not a simple activity which can be done in small
enterprises. Constructing, commissioning and operating a modern environmentally sound
recycling plant is a very expensive undertaking. Not only does the initial capital investment
run into many millions of dollars, but there is an ongoing, and essential, cost overhead to
cover environmental and hygiene control systems. Any modern recycling plant must have a
constant and high throughput of used lead acid batteries. Local governments should focus on
an environmentally safe collection of used lead acid batteries and delivery to an
environmentally sound smelter, even if this means that used batteries have to be exported to
achieve this goal.
References and further reading
• Lead the facts, an independent report on Lead and its industry, IC Consultants Ltd.,
London, UK, 2001
• Technical Guidelines for the Environmentally Sound Management of Waste Lead-
acid Batteries, Secretariat of the Basel Convention, Basel Convention series/SBC
No. 2003/9, 2003
• Avellaneda de la Calle, Jordi, Lead acid batteries – Economical and technical
recycling feasibility in developing countries, Oldenburg University/GTZ, April, 2002
• CE, Accumateriaal verwerkt, onderzoek naar de milieulast van accu’s voor electrische
en hybride auto’s, December 2000
• EPA, Promoting Mercury Containing Lamp Recycling – A Guide for Waste Managers,
Lamp Recycling Outreach Project, 2005
• Lombard, J.E. and P.S. Webb, What happens when the lights go out?, proceedings of
the 19th Waste Management Conference of the IWMSA, October 2008
• Thornton, Iain, Radu Rautiu and Susan Brush, Lead, the facts; an independent report
on Lead and its industry, ICON, 2001
• TNO, Beknopte risicoanalyse van inzameling van spaarlampen, Milieu en
Leefomgeving, Oktober 2008
• UNEP and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, Minimizing hazardous wastes: a
simplified guide to the Basel convention, September 2002
• UNEP and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, Technical Guidelines for the
Environmentally Sound Management of Waste Lead-acid Batteries, Basel Convention
series, SBC No. 2003/9
• Vest, H., Fundamentals of the Recycling of Lead-Acid Batteries, GATE information
service GTZ, 2002
Useful addresses
Secretariat of the Basel Convention (SBC):
International Environment House
15 Chemin des Anémones
CH-1219 Chatelaine, Switzerland
Tel: 4122 9178218
Fax: 4122 7973454
Email: sbc@unep.ch
Web: www.basel.int
Implements the program set out by the
parties whose objective is “environmentally
sound management” (ESM), the aim of
which is to protect human health and the
environment by minimizing hazardous waste
production whenever possible. ESM means
addressing the issue through an “integrated
6
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