China has sent back a 150-ton shipment of sludge derived from recycled lead-acid batteries as part of its new policy to ban imports of global waste.
Customs chiefs in the city of Yantai, in the eastern Shandong Province, seized 153 tons of lead sludge during an inspection and ordered it sent back to the source, which has not been named, the state Xinhua News Agency reported.
The seizure took place last year but has only just been confirmed. Xinhua said the shipment comprised “lead sludge generated in the process of recycling acid-lead batteries and slag produced during the smelting of metals, whose importation is prohibited in China”.
China began importing solid waste as a source of raw materials in the 1980s— but Xinhua said some companies have benefited from illegally bringing foreign waste to the country, “which represents a threat to the environment and public health”.
China’s government has ordered a complete ban on accepting 32 types of solid waste for disposal by the end of 2019.
The country’s environment ministry said earlier this year it would also crack down on domestic illegal lead recycling and launch a “traceability system” to promote advances in lead battery development as a “backbone” national industry.
By 2020, lead storage battery manufacturers in China will be expected to achieve a “standard” 40% collection rate of used lead batteries— rising to a collection rate of 70% by 2025.
