News | April 18, 2024
As Earth Day 2024 approaches, ABR member companies reflect on this year’s theme, “Planet vs. Plastics.”
Reducing plastic pollution to help and protect our planet for future generations is nothing new to the lead battery industry. Not only are lead batteries the most recycled consumer product in North America, but nearly all the components in a lead battery can be broken down and recycled for reuse — including the plastic casings.
Lead battery casings are made from polypropylene, an industrial-grade thermoplastic polymer that is strong, resistant to acids and recyclable. From a sustainability perspective, the lead and plastic used in batteries share similar attributes in that they are both 100% recyclable, which helps significantly reduce the amount of plastic entering the waste stream.
Through purposeful collaboration between manufacturers, recyclers, retailers and policymakers, the lead battery industry has created one of the world’s most successful examples of a closed-loop circular economy. As a result, lead batteries have a 99% collection and recycling rate — higher than any other battery chemistry.
From the start, lead batteries are designed to be remade by using minimal componentry and 100% recyclable materials. The plastic, lead and acid can all be recycled and returned to the manufacturing cycle for reuse.
Financial incentives encourage consumers to return spent batteries to retailers, which collect the batteries and ship them to recyclers for processing. A well-established infrastructure to collect, transport and recycle lead batteries helps ensure the ongoing success of these efforts.
Every day, more than 350 semi-trucks filled with spent lead batteries arrive at recycling facilities across North America where ABR members ensure they get recycled and turned into materials to support domestic manufacturing.
Using highly efficient recovery processes, lead battery recyclers ensure nearly all the material in spent batteries is recovered to make raw materials for new batteries. Currently, there are six lead battery recyclers in North America with plastics recycling facilities on site.
Spent batteries come into the recycling plant and are sent through a hammer mill, where they are crushed into smaller pieces. The acid is drained and collected for further processing. The lead and plastic chips are separated using a float/sink tank set with a specific gravity that allows the lead to sink and the plastic pieces to float to the top where they are skimmed off.
The plastic chips are washed several times before being dried and shredded into even smaller pieces. Next, the plastic is heated until molten and then run through an extruder where a rotary blade cuts it into uniform pellets that are ready for reuse.
After processing, the recycled resin pellets are returned to the same grade of industrial polypropylene. Roughly 99% of plastic from lead battery recyclers remains in the closed-loop system, reducing the need to produce new plastic for battery casings. The rest of the recycled plastic can be used for other products, including paint cans, automotive components, and thousands of other products.
The material recycled in North America remains here as part of the same closed-loop value chain. This ensures a sustainable and continuous domestic supply of raw materials for lead battery manufacturers.
ABR member companies are serious about sustainability and work hard to incorporate sustainable practices throughout the recycling process.
For instance, some member companies turn the acid recovered during the recycling process into water, which they then use in other parts of the recycling process like cleaning the plastic chips. This smart reuse of process water combined with the collection and use of stormwater runoff significantly minimizes water usage by the facility each year. Other member companies reclaim the acid to reuse in manufacturing new batteries.
The lead battery recycling industry is an example for other industries on how thoughtful collaboration between industry, policymakers and consumers can result in a successful model for sustainability.
Recycling only works to minimize waste and conserve resources when everyone does their part. So, on Earth Day and every day, help prevent plastic pollution and be part of the circular economy by properly recycling your lead batteries.
