Recycling Activities for Portable Rechargeable Batteries

COLLECTION AND RECYCLING ACTIVITIES FOR PORTABLE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES 

In the field of portable rechargeable batteries for such electronic devices, as cellular phones, personal computers and video cameras, many changes occurred in their respective markets. For over 30 years, NiCd batteries have mainly been used as the power source, but NiMH and lithium ion batteries were developed in the early 1990 s and, since then, their demand has rapidly increased. 

1 Market Trends of Portable Rechai eable Batteries 

Japanese manufacturers worldwide sales amounted to 1,503 million cells in 1998. Nearly 80% (1,187 million cells) of them was for export. Table 3.2 shows the export ratio by chemistry in 1998. Although domestic deliveries account for 316 million cells, almost 50% is for re-export as products with the battery included. 

The export ratios in 1998 are shown in Table 3.3. As for export to Asia, table 3.3 shows 34% for NiCd, 27% for NiMH and 36% for Li-ion. However, approximately 90% of the cells seem to be exported again. 

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Fujimoto 1999, Collection and Recycling Activities for Portable Rechargeable Batteries in Japan, Proceedings of the 5 International Battery Recycling Congress, Deauville, France, September 27-29,1999. 

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