In recent weeks the US lead battery industry has taken some blows to its environment claims, but a new Battery Council International (BCI) report has ratified the widely held understanding that lead batteries– at 99% recyclability– are the most recycled consumer product in the country.
BCI’s biennial report on the recycling rate of lead batteries in the US to mark America Recycles Day on 15 November.
Lead batteries are used in more than 275 million vehicles in the US and account for more than 70% of the world’s rechargeable power, according to the report produced by SmithBucklin of Chicago and commissioned by BCI.
Kevin Moran, executive vice president of BCI, said the National Recycling Rate Study report reinforces the lead battery industry’s successful circular infrastructure, using data through 2018.
He said: “Our industry’s nationwide lead battery collection and recycling infrastructure continues to produce a near-perfect recycling rate of 99%.
“The primary components – plastic, acid and lead – become a valuable domestic resource used to create new lead batteries that contain more than 80% recycled material.”
He added: “This data further reinforces that lead batteries are a smart, sustainable choice to support the growth in renewable energy storage and green transportation, such as start-stop technology, hybrids and electric vehicles.”
The US Environmental Protection Agency held its second annual Recycling Summit on 15 November.
The US lead battery industry keeps more than 129 million lead batteries out of landfills annually using a state-of-the-art closed-loop process recognised as the world’s most successful example of a circular economy by the World Economic Forum and MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics
The methodology for calculating the recycling rate considers new battery shipments, battery exports, imports of products containing a battery and imports of scrap lead and used batteries.
View a video of the recycling process here:
