As Commonwealth countries across the globe mark Armistice Day and Veterans Day we hear from the armed forces heroes employed in the lead battery industry on the importance of recycling during America Recycles Week (10–16 November).
Among the ranks is former US Army Staff Sergeant Kevin Moran, executive vice president of Battery Council International (BCI)— one of more than 160 organisations that have signed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) America Recycles Pledge.
Moran, who also served as an enlisted soldier in the Active Reserves, backs the lead battery industry as a leader in creating a circular economy and being a model for other battery chemistries – and industries – in how to responsibly design, make, use, recycle and remanufacture materials.
In the US, the EPA’s Keep America Beautiful and the Department of Defense will host an event to recognise Recycling Heroes within the military during America Recycles Week.
Employee numbers in the US lead battery industry have risen 20% since 2016, including 15% of those jobs in the lead battery recycling sector, according to a study prepared by the EDR Group at the request of Essential Energy Everyday and BCI.
Here, US veterans share their personal thoughts on the importance of recycling.
Exide Technologies
Billy Broadhead joined Exide after nine years of service in active and reserve duty for the US Marine Corps.
The health and safety manager at Canon Hollow said: “Recycling really begins with the employment of those who mine or produce the raw materials, those who work to deliver the raw materials (land, rail, water), those who produce the product from the raw materials, those who deliver the finished goods, those who sell the finished goods, and on and on, until the used batteries are delivered to a lead battery recycler to safely recover raw materials to start the process again.”
Shane Anderson served in the Army National Guard for six years before joining Exide as a transportation supervisor.
He said: “Many recycling facilities in the US are in areas that do not have many job opportunities. The jobs the recycling industry provides are valuable to individuals and the communities where they live.”
Army veteran Nathanael Loew served four years of service in Operation Desert Storm. The blast furnace production leader has been with Exide since 2015.He works alongside fellow veteran Paul Miller, who has been with the company for more than two decades.
Loew said: “Recycling lead batteries is a win-win. We keep the batteries out of the environment and recycle resources that can be used to manufacture new batteries, ensuring that we never run out of the raw materials we need to produce new lead batteries to power the world forward.”
Interstate Batteries Recycling
Tod Lyons joined the firm more than 10 years ago. The communications and sustainability manager came to the job after more than two decades of active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard.
His duty assignments included two tours with the Coast Guard’s National Strike Force—considered experts in oil and chemical spill clean-up and environmental remediation— and a first responder to The World Trade Center attacks in New York City.
Lyons said: “With natural elements, minerals and resources diminishing, it is important that we find ways to get the most life expectancy out of a product. For those of us with a heart for the environment, it makes sense to safely recycle everything we can to make the best use of the diminishing resources we have and protect our environment for generations to come.”
East Penn Manufacturing
East Penn Manufacturing was founded by Air Force veteran DeLight Breidegam, Jr, in a one-room battery shop in 1946. Today its the largest single-site lead battery manufacturing facility in the world.
The company’s links with veterans continues with assistant plant manager Barry Frain, who served in the US Marine Corp for more than a decade.
The former Squadron Sergeant Major said: “When I was deployed, East Penn continued to contribute to, and maintain, health insurance for me and my family. Normally, you would switch to military insurance during deployment, but East Penn’s philosophy is that when you are deployed, they don’t want you worried about what’s happening at home, but instead to focus on where you are. Leadership also checked in with my family while I was gone. It’s a support network that’s tremendous.”
Image: Military veterans Billy Broadhead, health & safety manager (left) and Shane Anderson at Exide’s Cannon Hollow, Missouri, facility.
