The Collection of Spent Batteries

THE COLLECTION OF SPENT BATTERIES The European Union Regulations on Spent Batteries 

The main purpose of the EC Directive 157/91 is to set a common regulation among the member states regarding the recovery and disposal of batteries containing dangerous substances. In particular, the above directive refers to batteries exceedings these limits  

Furthermore, the states should inform the consumers about  

The member states cannot veto, or take any measure to limit, the sale of any battery if it is produced in accordance with the EC Directive 157/91. 

The Italian Way to the Collection and Recycling of Lead/Acid Accumulators 

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It is interesting to note that even in a country without tradition for the collection of spent batteries (all types) and of waste electrical and electronic equipment, the collection mode represents one of the three major ways for discarding used equipment. (N.B. In France the official SCRELEC campaign did only start one year before the hoarding study was performed). When this survey was performed, the existence of this national collection program had not yet reached a high level of knowledge by the consumer. 

To illustrate the impact of the collection of spent batteries of all types on the... 

In all handling of NiCd batteries the collection of spent batteries is very important. Large industrial batteries are easy to handle and they are recyded to more than 80%. For the small consumer batteries, the difficulties are great. Different, ambitious collection programs have however been developed and tested. 

These caveats notwithstanding, there is still little argument that the most preferred option for the disposal of spent batteries is obviously collection and recycling. Not only does this option greatly reduce any risk which may exist, but it conserves valuable... 

The most appropriate concept to evaluate the success of spent batteries collection campaigns or programs is the collection efficiency that is based on measured data like the quantity of batteries present in waste (municipal solid and other industrial waste) and the quantity collected on a national basis from the various collection sources (national, private, etc). 

The most appropriate concept to evaluate the success of spent battery collection campaigns or programs is the collection efficiency that is based on measured data the... 

For portable rechargeable batteries that are incorporated in pieces of equipment, the consumer is not willing to separate the rechargeable battery from the equipment. If this equipment has a potential life of more than ten years on the market, the amount of spent batteries collected will be very low. 

STIBAT is controlling the market introduction of all batteries with a weight inferior to 1 kg. It has also the control of 100% of spent batteries collected by municipalities, professionals and private collection systems. In order to evaluate the flow of batteries escaping the collection circuit, in 1998 STIBAT has organised a campaign to measure the quantity of spent batteries present in MSW streams in the Netherlands. The application of formula 3 to the case of the Netherlands leads to a collection rate of 77% for used Ni-Cd batteries as illustrated in Table 5. 

For small-size portable rechargeable batteries, the collection of spent nickel cadmium batteries started in 1985 and has been pursued in combination with the collection of nickel metalhydride batteries, lithium ion batteries and small-size sealed lead-acid batteries. The collection rate of nickel cadmium batteries was over 40% in 2000. 

Spent lead-acid battery reclamation Persons who generate, transport, regenerate, collect, and store spent lead-acid batteries prior to reclamation, but do not perform the actual reclamation, are not subject to hazardous waste regulation. U.S. EPA established those provisions to encourage the recycling of these batteries. However, owners and... 

At the present time, a large number of spent batteries are disposed of directly into the urban waste stream without proper controls. In addition to the most common systems such as zinc-carbon, alkaline manganese and nickel-cadmium, these now include, at an increasing rate, nickel-metal hydride and lithium cells. Such disposal is of serious concern because of the possible effects of battery components on the environment. Consequently, most countries are now evolving policies for collection and recycling. The majority of lead-acid batteries are recycled, but the number of recycling plants in operation worldwide for other battery systems is still very small due to the unfavourable economic balance of such operations (see Table A3.1). Some of the procedures for the disposal and recycling of battery materials are now briefly described. 

Italy. The consortium, COBAT, was created in 1988 with the responsibility for collection and marketing of used batteries, the re-treatment of collected batteries if market economics are not effective, and the research and development for cleaner recycling of spent batteries. The consortium comprises secondary lead smelters, battery manufacturers, scrap merchants, and battery retailers. The customer pays a fee on each battery, and this is used to fund COBAT. 

One half of the total quantity available for collection has been taken back to a collection point and the second half is discarded in MSW streams. Consequently, discarding in MSW is not the preferred method of elimination of spent batteries and equipment. 

The difficulty faced by any collection program (national or private) is to evaluate the exact quantity of spent batteries available for collection as it is the fraction that can be collected. Indeed, batteries kept at home or in shops that are not available for collection are not a threat for the environment as long as they remain under the property and control of their owner. 

For industrial Ni-Cd batteries, the industry has established a one for one collection strategy that allows the take back of spent batteries at the time of sales as well as independently of sales. This principle allows the industry to pursue a collection target of more than 90% of the quantity of industrial Ni-Cd batteries introduced annually into the market (based on an annual average over the last ten years). The collected volumes obtained during the last six years are presented in Figure 25. 

Beyond the administrative and financial responsibility, SCRELEC acts as a control agency for the various operations related to the collection ind recycling of spent batteries and also for the de-manufacturing of electrical and electronic equipment and the appropriate management of each type of component in recycling, re-use and/or discarding operations. 

In this approach, one can consider that the quantity of spent Ni-Cd batteries generated at source is equal to the quantity that the end-user is eliminating via several routes, like MSW and/or voluntary landfill (VL), and the quantity that is collected for recycling in dedicated processes or not. If we take the example of Ni-Cd batteries, one can consider for simplification two factors ... 

Sellers (or wholesalers) which are the discharge locations are to notify their battery manufacturers of the collection by using a control card (the so-called manifest) when the number of traded-in spent batteries achieves a certain quantity (50 to 100 units). The battery manufacturers which are given the notice of collection are to entrust the collection of the spent batteries to a collection and transportation company in order to bring them to the lead recycling and refining company. After that, the recycled batteries are to be reused by the battery manufacturers. 

The recyclers buy spent batteries from COBAT at a price of 0.06 /kg. This revenue and the above-mentioned levy allow COBAT to break the balance sheet even, since the collection cost which is kept more or less steady at 0.10 /kg. 

From these data, one can see that the average cost for the recovery of spent lead/acid batteries in Germany is 0.52 /kgPb. This includes collection, recycling, slag and plastics disposal. 

In 1993, the Environment Minister has signed an agreement with the consortium of battery collectors, producers and importers to set up a system granting an efficient collection of all spent lead accumulators. The levy paid by the consumer for car batteries of 20 amperes minimum is about 3.10 , an amount considered sufficient to allow a good support to the system even when lead prices are low. More than 95% of spent batteries are annually collected. 

The data mostly refer to the number of replacement batteries, which is equivalent to that of the spent ones. Data on spent batteries are not always available, as the collection system is often irregular as it is managed by private operators. Furthermore, spent batteries often cross borders, e.g. France-Germany, East Europe-Germany or Austria, France-Spain, Scandinavian Countries-United Kingdom, and this factor determines some imcertainty as to whether the figures are correct.. 

In this respect, the high collection rate of spent batteries in the developed countries (European Union for instance) is a significant achievement. It is everyone s hope that the developing countries can soon bridge the gap, as lead pollution is not halted by the country borders. 

Whereas recourse to economic instruments such as the setting up of a deposit system may encourage the separate collection and recycling of spent batteries and accumulators ... 

To this end, this Directive lays down measures aiming at preventing or reducing the hazardous nature of waste from batteries and accumulators, at ensuring the separate collection of all types of spent batteries and accumulators with a view to recovering their content and at reducing the final disposal of such waste. 

The Directive on Batteries and Accumulators is focused on lead, cadmium and mercury. Its goal is to approximate the laws of the member states on the recovery and di osal of spent batteries and accumulators containing >25 mg Hg per cell, >.025% Cd by weight, and >.4% Pb by weight. In addition, Ni/Cd and Pb/acid batteries may only be incorporated into appliances where they can be readily removed by the consumer when spent. Tne batteries and appliances, where appropriate, must be labeled to indicate separate collection, recycling (where appropriate), and heavy metal content. 

Fleet operators and large scale industrial users of batteries are in a better position than the general consumer communities to collect discarded batteries. Because of the organizational structure of the former group, the establishment of collection systems within their existing organizations is relatively easy. The more difficult problem lies in the domain of domestic users, particularly the problem of the retrieval of batteries other than lead-acid batteries. The retrieval of spent automotive lead-acid batteries from domestic users, by far the most significant fraction of lead acid batteries, is relatively efficient because these batteries are sold on a trade-in basis in most cases. However, most consumer batteries are not sold in this manner. 

The State of New Jersey has passed a law restricting the sale and disposal of batteries (qv) containing mercury, requiring manufacturers to reduce the mercury content of each battery to 1 ppm by weight by 1995, and to estabhsh a collection program for spent batteries (14). Another New Jersey law bans the sale of products having cadmium, mercury, or other toxic materials in the packaging (14) (see Cadmiumand cadmium alloys Cadmium compounds Mercury compounds). 

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