Toxicity of Materials Used in Manufacturing Rechargeable Batteries

1 Toxicity of Materials Used in Manufacturing Rechargeable Batteries 

Valance Giaracteristics of Various Rare Earth and Other Elements Used in Battery Alloys 

Consumer batteries are generally smaller and are discarded with other products in the municipal solid waste. When the waste reaches a landfill, water is leached and then nickel, cadmium, and mercury are extracted from the used and broken batteries. High concentrations of the metals are sorted out from the landfill base. When the waste reaches the incinerators, the batteries contribute high levels of metal fumes to the stack emissions and ash, which escalates the cost of environmental control. Battery producers claim that used batteries accounted for close to 1.5 million metric tons of municipal from solid waste. However, this quantity is less than 1% of the total municipal solid waste generated. This solid waste contains about 67% of the lead, 90% of the mercury, and more than 50 percent of the cadmium. In countries where county and municipal regulators mandate the removal of Pb-acid batteries from the municipal solid-waste incinerators and landfills, they require safe disposal of used batteries with appropriate certification. 

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