# [EVDL] Lead recycling, 96% is not really the number



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

The lead-acid battery manufacturing folks are not giving realistic 
numbers on the fraction of lead that is actually recycled, 
unfortunately. Once you look into it carefully, there is something 
not quite right about the numbers.

The 96% number is the percentage of recovered lead from the batteries 
that arrive at the recycling plant. It is _not_ the percentage of 
lead that is recovered from the batteries that are produced.

You can see the overall picture when you look at what fraction of the 
lead used to produce batteries comes from recycled sources, and you 
also look at the fraction of all the lead produced that goes into 
making batteries. Lead-acid batteries use, at most, 80% recycled lead 
in their manufacture. (Many batteries use much more "virgin" 
unrecycled lead.) Because lead is toxic, substitutes are now used 
wherever possible. Thus, lead-acid battery production uses about 80% 
of _all_ the lead produced, both virgin and recycled.

You can see the problem with the numbers. If only 80% (or 
less) of the lead in batteries comes from recycled sources, but 
supposedly 96% of the lead is recycled, where is the 16% difference 
in recycled lead going? There is not enough lead used in products 
other than batteries to absorb this amount of recycled lead. The 
production of lead-acid batteries is essentially the same each year. 
Thus, a significant fraction of lead-acid batteries are not being recycled.

Bill D.



>There are laws that require recycling lead; so something like 96% of
>lead-acid batteries get recycled. The number of other types of batteries
>that get recycled is so far negligible. :-(

_______________________________________________
| Moratorium on drag racing discussion is in effect.
| Please take those discussions elsewhere. Thanks.
|
| REPLYING: address your message to [email protected] only.
| Multiple-address or CCed messages may be rejected.
| UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub
| OTHER HELP: http://evdl.org/help/
| CONFIGURE: http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ev


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Bill, I'd be interested in documentation of that little game you allege: that the battery smelters claim 4% losses in their process rather than the conventional definition of a recovery rate. When I was running the annual recovery rate census at Oregon DEQ, we were very careful about such claims, and based recovery rates strictly on the tonnage sold versus the tonnage that entered the recycling system each year, without adjustment for losses in secondary manufacturing. Being a mature and valuable commodity, lead battery recovery rates fluctuated from year-to-year, sometimes exceeding 100% in a period much as we have recently seen: a down economy with high commodity pricing. Scrap batteries, some of them ancient, come from all directions when the value of lead heads skyward! (Want an Edison cell glass case, anyone?- put in a standing order at your local scrapper..) Import/export of scrap batteries and recovered ingot has greatly muddled the numbers as well.

One bit of battery recycling trivia that some may find interesting is that modern plastic recycling owes a lot to the lead battery. Sanders Lead Co. in Troy, Alabama built an early plastic recycling plant in 1981 to deal with all of the scrap polypropylene cases that were left from their battery breaking operation. Trying to find something to do with excess capacity on their plastic line, the company started buying HDPE milk bottles for recycling in the late 1980's (HDPE floats in a water wash, just like polypropylene). Today, the resulting KW Plastics Co. is much larger than the lead smelter, and in addition to being one of the largest HDPE and Polypropylene recyclers on earth, also manufactures those black plastic one gallon paint cans that made a relic out of the steel paint can, out of recycled resin, of course!
Most lead smelters in the US did not survive the dawn of environmental regulation in the 1980's, but Wiley Sanders (yep, that's the name) made the best of it.. 

-Jay Donnaway




Date: Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:17:31 -0600
rom: Bill Dube <[email protected]>
ubject: [EVDL] Lead recycling, 96% is not really the number
o: Electric Vehicle Discussion List <[email protected]>
essage-ID: <[email protected]>
ontent-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
The lead-acid battery manufacturing folks are not giving realistic 
umbers on the fraction of lead that is actually recycled, 
nfortunately. Once you look into it carefully, there is something 
ot quite right about the numbers.
The 96% number is the percentage of recovered lead from the batteries 
hat arrive at the recycling plant. It is _not_ the percentage of 
ead that is recovered from the batteries that are produced.
You can see the overall picture when you look at what fraction of the 
ead used to produce batteries comes from recycled sources, and you 
lso look at the fraction of all the lead produced that goes into 
aking batteries. Lead-acid batteries use, at most, 80% recycled lead 
n their manufacture. (Many batteries use much more "virgin" 
nrecycled lead.) Because lead is toxic, substitutes are now used 
herever possible. Thus, lead-acid battery production uses about 80% 
f _all_ the lead produced, both virgin and recycled.
You can see the problem with the numbers. If only 80% (or 
ess) of the lead in batteries comes from recycled sources, but 
upposedly 96% of the lead is recycled, where is the 16% difference 
n recycled lead going? There is not enough lead used in products 
ther than batteries to absorb this amount of recycled lead. The 
roduction of lead-acid batteries is essentially the same each year. 
hus, a significant fraction of lead-acid batteries are not being recycled.
Bill D.

>There are laws that require recycling lead; so something like 96% of
lead-acid batteries get recycled. The number of other types of batteries
that get recycled is so far negligible. :-(




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/private/ev/attachments/20110705/86a54fa5/attachment.html 
_______________________________________________
| Moratorium on drag racing discussion is in effect.
| Please take those discussions elsewhere. Thanks.
|
| REPLYING: address your message to [email protected] only.
| Multiple-address or CCed messages may be rejected.
| UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub
| OTHER HELP: http://evdl.org/help/
| CONFIGURE: http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ev


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Is it possible that the perceived discrepancy between the recycled amount
and the virgin amount could be due to an ever increasing demand for
batteries (both regionally and globally)?
There is a huge after market demand, as well as the demand at the
manufacturing level for vehicles as well as UPS sytems ( I have helped with
5 of these systems on local contruction sites over the past 3 years, and all
used lead-acid batteries).
-Tom



> "Bill Dube" <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> The fact that a _lot_ of virgin lead goes into the manufacture of
> batteries means that a similar amount is being lost in the battery
> ...


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> Bill Dube wrote:
> 
> > I did not manage to find the total world production figures for
> > lead-acid batteries. I searched a bit on the web, but no luck.
> ...


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Great information!

The lead mined is close to half of the total lead 
production. Recycling accounts for about half the total production. 
Growth in both use and recycling is about 20% per year (recently.) 
The ratio of recycling to mining is constant. As mining grows, so 
does recycling, so the total growth in use is supplied equally from 
both sources. The recycling "gap" remains constant so the percentage 
loss of mined lead to the environment remains constant.

Lead-acid batteries use 80% of that total lead production. If we 
assume zero recycling from all other uses, (which we know is not 
true,) that leaves a "hole" of about 30%. There cannot possibly be 
96% recycling of lead-acid batteries.

Bill Dube'



At 02:58 AM 7/6/2011, you wrote:


>


> Bill Dube wrote:
> >
> > > I did not manage to find the total world production figures for
> > > lead-acid batteries. I searched a bit on the web, but no luck.
> ...


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Interesting discussion.

I had never imagined that "96% of the lead in batteries WAS ACTUALLY
recycled". That assumes that all used batteries make it into the recycling
stream. I would guess that as the scrap value of batteries goes up, people
will be more likely to recycle them. Although I'd like it to be much
higher, I'm pleased that at least half actually make it to recycling.

I had always just assumed that OF THE BATTERIES THAT HAPPEN TO BE RECYCLED,
it's possible to reclaim about 96% of the lead in them (some loss during the
recycling process is inevitable). I'm betting that's where the figure comes
from.

- Peter Flipsen Jr



> Rick Beebe <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> > On 07/06/2011 09:33 AM, Bill Dube wrote:
> > > Lead-acid batteries use 80% of that total lead production. If we
> ...


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

I am more concerned with where they are sending that 4%.



> Bill Dube <[email protected]> wrote:
> > I agree. I too think that "96%" number is just the smelter efficiency.
> >
> > Since only half the lead produced worldwide is recycled, and 80% of
> ...


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> Dan wrote:
> 
> Jay
> 
> ...


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Good point. I have no idea how accurate that number is or how they derive it.

That recent post about the St Helens smelter tells you where that 4% 
(or more) could very easily be going if the recycling facility is not 
operated conscientiously.

At 03:50 PM 7/6/2011, you wrote:
>I am more concerned with where they are sending that 4%.
>
>


> Bill Dube <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > I agree. I too think that "96%" number is just the smelter efficiency.
> > >
> > > Since only half the lead produced worldwide is recycled, and 80% of
> ...


----------

