In BPL case we would be using the secondary lead which we get from scrap batteries which we have been collecting over the years.

Most of the lead produced comes from secondary sources. Lead scrap includes lead-acid batteries, cable coverings, pipes, sheets and lead coated, or terne bearing, metals. Solder, product waste and dross may also be recovered for its small lead content. Most secondary lead is used in batteries.

To recover lead from a battery, the battery is broken, and the components are classified. The lead containing components are processed in blast furnaces for hard lead or rotary reverberatory furnaces for fine particles. The blast furnace is similar in structure to a cupola furnace used in iron foundries. The furnace is charged with slag, scrap iron, limestone, coke, oxides, dross, and reverberatory slag. The coke is used to melt and reduce the lead. Limestone reacts with impurities and floats to the top. This process also keeps the lead from oxidizing. The molten lead flows from the blast furnace into holding pots. Lead may be mixed with alloys, including antimony, tin, arsenic, copper, and nickel. It is then cast into ingots.

Smelting of Lead helps in putting recycling process, whereby instead of just throwing away scrap batteries, these scrap can be put into good use of getting the ingots and individuals getting some money instead of just discarding their scrap batteries.

Exposure to excessive levels of lead can cause damage to the brain and kidneys, impair hearing; and lead to numerous other associated problems. On average, each automobile manufactured contains approximately 12 kilograms of lead. Around 96% lead is used in the common lead-acid battery, while the remaining 4% in other applications including wheel balance weights, protective coatings, and vibration dampers.

Recycling Perspectives

Recycling of Lead-Acid Batteries is a profitable business, albeit dangerous, in developing countries. Many developing countries buy used lead-acid batteries (also known as ULABs) from industrialized countries (and the Middle East) in bulk in order to extract lead. ULAB recycling occurs in almost every city in the developing world where ULAB recycling and smelting operations are often located in densely populated urban areas with hardly any pollution control and safety measures for workers.

Usually, ULAB recycling operations release lead-contaminated waste into the environment and natural ecosystems.  In fact, Blacksmith Institute estimates that over 12 million people are affected by lead contamination from the processing of Used Lead Acid Batteries in the developing world, with South America, South Asia, and Africa being the most affected regions.

Associated Problems

The problems associated with the recycling of ULABs are well-documented and recognized by the industry and the Basel Convention Secretariat. As much of the informal ULAB recycling is small-scale and difficult to regulate or control, progress is possible only through cleanup, outreach, policy, and education.

For example, Blacksmith’s Lead Poisoning and Car Batteries Project is currently active in eight countries, including Senegal, the Dominican Republic, India, and the Philippines. The Project aims to end widespread lead poisoning from the improper recycling of ULABs, and consists of several different strategies and programs, with the most important priority being the health of children in the surrounding communities.

Lead poisoning, from improper recycling of used batteries, impacts tens of millions of people worldwide.

There is no effective means of tracking shipments of used lead-acid batteries from foreign exporters to recycling plants in the developing world which makes it difficult to trace ULABs going to unauthorized or inadequate facilities.

The Way Forward

An effective method to reduce the hazards posed by transboundary movements of ULABs is to encourage companies that generate used lead batteries to voluntarily stop exporting lead batteries to developing countries. These types of voluntary restrictions on transboundary shipments can help pressure companies involved in recycling lead batteries in developing to improve their environmental performance. It may also help encourage policymakers to close the gaps in both regulations and enforcement capacity.

Another interesting way is to encourage the regeneration of lead-acid batteries which can prolong their life significantly. The advantage of battery regeneration over regular recycling is the reduced carbon footprint incurred by mitigating the collecting, packing, shipping, and smelting of millions of tonnes of batteries and their cases. Most importantly, it takes about 25kWh of energy to remake a 15Kg, 12V 70Ah battery and just 2.1KWh to regenerate it electronically.

It has been found that within the U.S alone the recycling and reuse industry employs 1.1 million people, has a payroll of $37 billion, and $236 billion in gross annual sales. There has also been a study that shows that an additional 1.4 million jobs are supported by the recycling and reuse industry. Looking at these figures tells us that recycling has an enormous impact on society and our economy. If the U.S alone can create that many jobs from recycling it go to show that recycling is worth the time as not only does it create an enormous profit it also benefits the environment.

Recycling metal is vastly cheaper than mining ore and smelting it into useable metals as the mining and smelting have already been done the metal is simply melted down and reshaped. Due to the process being much shorter, less money is used. This money can be spent on other parts of the economy which in an ideal world would lead to a reduction in tax and a higher rate of pay at minimum wage across the nation.

The more materials that we decide to recycle, the more jobs that will be created in accordance with the demands put upon the recycling and reuse industry. If the number of jobs to be created was increased, we would be producing more money which would again allow us to create more jobs. The potential that the recycling industry poses is endless but the process of recycling isn’t easy enough which discourages society from even attempting to recycle.

If enough materials were recycled we would be able to spend less money on importation. Spending less money on importation would cause a drop in transport prices due to less fuel being used in the transportation process.

Another reason why recycling is of benefit to the economy is due to the fact that waste that we just throw away often finds its way to a landfill site. These landfill sites can take up a lot of room, the room which could have been used for more factories or housing estates. If the rubbish isn’t taken to a landfill site it is instead burned to produce energy but keeping the incinerators going also consumed a great deal of energy.

If you’d like to know more about conserving the environment through recycling or how the economy is supported through recycling you can enquire at your local neighborhood watch meeting. For more information on recycling metal and advice on where to sell your scrap get in touch with us at bplnigeria.com

To reduce their dependence on the import of key materials from other countries, many companies have decided to construct their own facilities for the recycling of batteries. Existing recycling methods are based on chemical extraction processes tailored for single, specific elements (mainly, lithium and cobalt). The need of the hour is a new technology/solution that will help to overcome the challenge of having separate extraction processes for various elements.

Given the challenges battery disposal presents, recycling works as an opportunity to increase profit margins and decrease footprint, which will act as additional benefits for stakeholders. Battery manufacturers are working on a unified design that will be easy to dismantle; information can also be shared about battery controlling systems’ interfaces and communication protocol.

Collaborations between private and public entities will become an important strategy for effective advanced vehicle battery recycling. Innovative business models such as the Tesla-Umicore partnership create arrangements that are as good for the company as they are for the community; they also demonstrate how a recycling system can be both profitable and environmentally sound.

Supportive regulations that focus on the recycling of Li-ion batteries will alleviate material scarcity, lower material costs, and reduce energy usage, emission, and mining-related impacts. Robust investments in collection and recycling infrastructure and technology for new-generation vehicle batteries, along with effective regulations, will promote higher collection and recycling rates for Li-ion batteries.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are still a small part of the vehicle market and the few retired EV batteries coming out of vehicles are being tested in a range of pilot-scale applications or simply stored while technology or infrastructure for recycling improves.  While the majority of consumer electronic wastes have historically been destined for the landfill, lithium batteries contain valuable metals and other materials that can be recovered, processed, and reused to make more batteries.

There are many promising strategies for recycling lithium-ion batteries (LIB), but there are also technical, economic, logistic, and regulatory barriers to resolve. As the Hitz Climate Fellow for the Union of Concerned Scientists, I’ll be taking a look at some of the challenges and opportunities for battery reuse and recycling over the next year. This is a quick overview of the current state of battery recycling which highlights opportunities to close the loop on battery materials and create a sustainable value chain for lithium batteries.

The end of life?

When an electric vehicle comes off the road, either from accident or age, battery systems will need to be processed. After primary use in a vehicle, potential end of life pathways for used electric vehicle batteries include reuse, or repurposing (“second life”), materials recovery (recycling), and disposal. Regardless of whether batteries are reused, they will eventually need to be recycled or disposed of. Understanding the opportunities and barriers to recycling is critical to reduce environmental impacts from improper disposal, and to account for benefits from recovered materials and avoided mining of virgin resources.

A handful of large-scale facilities recycle lithium batteries today using pyrometallurgical, or smelting, processes. These plants use high temperatures (~1500oC) to burn off impurities and recover cobalt, nickel, and copper.  Lithium and aluminum are generally lost in this process, bound in waste referred to as slag. Some lithium can be recovered from slag using secondary processes.  Today’s smelting facilities are expensive and energy-intensive, in part due to the need to treat toxic fluorine emissions, and have relatively low rates of material recovery.

According to the US Advanced Battery Consortium standards, an EV battery reaches the end of its usable life when its current cell capacity is less than 80% of the rated capacity. But there are still a lot of unknowns as to when EV batteries will be retired.  For example, the average vehicle is on the road in the United States for more than 12 years; modern EVs with large lithium-ion battery packs have been on the market for less than 8 years, with over 50% of sales occurring in the last two years.

A second-life for batteries

A second-life application for used batteries is an appealing opportunity for battery and vehicle manufacturers to make EVs more affordable and potentially generate more profit. Reuse also extends the lifetime of batteries, and potentially displaces some new batteries from stationary applications, all of which reduces the overall impacts of battery production.

In some cases, batteries could be refurbished for use directly in another vehicle, potentially extending the useful life of many vehicle systems. So when a battery pack dies prematurely, functioning modules and cells can often be recombined to create refurbished battery packs for other vehicles.

Given the large size and high performance of modern vehicle batteries, retired batteries could still offer significant capacity after being retired from use in a vehicle. As batteries are charged and discharged, their performance degrades. Degradation results in is less stored energy being accessible for powering the vehicle; in other words, the vehicle won’t drive as far on a single charge. But in less demanding applications, EV batteries might get a second-life.  While the high-power demands of a vehicle render stored energy inaccessible, batteries might be able to serve an additional 6 to 10 years in a lower-power, stationary application storing energy from solar panels to be used in off-grid or peak demand-shaving applications.

One key barrier for reuse has been the continually improving economics and performance of new batteries.  The price of new batteries fell over an order of magnitude while performance has improved, effectively pricing out used batteries from some applications.  The integrated construction and design of current battery packs and proprietary management software also limit component replacement and increase the costs of testing and repurposing

Across the United States, the concept of “going green” has progressed far beyond simply being a catchy slogan. Businesses are quickly taking steps to become more environmentally-friendly in ways that go far beyond trying to convince customers passionate about the environment to continue shopping with them.

Going green might sound like a fad or trend, but the benefits of recycling metals have its positive implications for the workplace. Such positive implications are the incorporation of a healthy environment for employees, the reduction of unnecessary waste, and recognizing that businesses can set an example and lead the way on social change.

And that’s true as well when it comes to businesses doing something else: reducing waste.

Going green can improve your company’s overall efficiency. Reducing unnecessary waste is a great way to reduce a company’s operating costs, while investments in the recycling of unwanted items is a terrific way to contribute to the environment. A fast-growing number of businesses are doing just that.

In fact, at a time when eco-consciousness is rising globally, industry analysts now believe recycling will play an important role in promoting “green awareness” trends in the future.

That’s because as more and more businesses start recognizing the value of adopting environmentally-friendly measures as part of their corporate culture, it helps promote the global trend toward more recycling.

That’s particularly true in countries experiencing rapid urbanization, but it’s also true in the heavily industrialized United States, where steel tariffs imposed by China on American imports have increased the need to use recycled scrap instead.

And it may be time as well for the United States government to recognize the need to invest in scrap recycling, and the role that recycling plays in a booming economy.

Why is Scrap Recycling a Growing Industry?

Considering that most people think of recycling as dealing primarily with trash; it’s become increasingly clear it’s also a way to protect our environment. There’s obviously more economic benefits of recycling metals than just the financial incentive. The scrap metal recycling industry is a great example. The scrap metal recycling industry continues to grow in part because there’s a huge market for its end product: a better environment.

Recycling scrap keeps these metals out of landfills, where the toxins within them pose serious risks to the soil and water. But scrap recycling also has a lot to do with preserving natural resources and reducing our energy use as well.

A scrap metal recycling plant, for example, uses considerably less energy than extracting metals from their ore or raw state to make new metals.

We also know there’s a finite supply of iron ore deposits and other basic minerals for steel production. Continuing to depend on raw materials will eventually hurt steel and other plants that overly rely on those metals and have not tapped into recycled metals as an alternative.

In fact, in more than a few nations, the steel sector is now being sustained through the recycling of scrap steel obtained from municipal solid wastes. The use of scrap in steel production, for example, has become an integral part of the steelmaking industry.

And that’s a key reason why the scrap metal recycling industry is seen today as a trending business with plenty of growth potential in the future. As people become more eco-conscious and the government implements new environmental protections, the recycling industry seems certain to grow simultaneously.

And that presents an avenue for smart entrepreneurs to capitalize on this industry by investing in it.

The question is, do enough businesses and consumers recognize how scrap metal recycling can play a key role in both environmental protection and economic growth as well.

What is the U.S. Government’s Approach to Recycling?

For the most part, the U.S. government has relied on state and local governments to handle all forms of waste management, and that includes recycling.

Efforts to legislate minimum national recycling standards have never made it out of Congress, in part because of geographic differences. The biggest call for federal assistance on waste management usually comes from densely populated states with less room to store trash, and with a strong need for proven alternatives like recycling.

Less populous states with a lot of extra land for landfills are not interested in federal mandates on recycling.

In fact, the first federal law to deal with solid waste management was the 1965 Solid Waste Disposal Act, which was part of the first Clean Air Act. But it made no mention of recycling.

Then, in 1976, Congress approved the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to establish guidelines for solid waste disposal and regulations for hazardous waste management. Again, it barely mentioned recycling, except to mandate an increase in federal purchases of products made with recycled content.

The EPA would later publish manuals on how to implement curbside recycling programs, although it left states needing to secure the funding for it on their own.

The shift toward more recycling began in the 1980s, when states like Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Jersey became the early pioneers in the development of curbside recycling programs, followed by the introduction of “bottle bill” laws to encourage recycling of beer and soft drink containers.

Today, the EPA estimates that Americans recycle more than 30 percent of the waste they generate each year, triple the figures during the 1980s.

But while many Americans understand and appreciate the importance of recycling plastics, cans, bottles and newspapers, there’s still plenty of educating to do about the need for consumers, businesses and municipal governments alike to join in boosting recycling rates for scrap metal.

First, the need is economic. A growing number of manufacturers today rely heavily on scrap for their production lines. Using recycled scrap is considerably more cost effective than obtaining new metals, and metals are a commodity that can be recycled repeatedly.

How Has the Booming Economy Impacted Scrap Recycling?

In a booming economy, with heavy public and private sector investments in new infrastructure projects, commercial and residential buildings, and consumer goods being made with metals, recycled scrap is a valuable commodity.

The fast-growing scrap recycling industry has created over 450,000 jobs and added millions in tax revenue – up to $10 billion for state governments. Recycling companies are making a bigger and bigger contribution to the economy these days, and they’re expected to continue creating job opportunities, both directly and indirectly.

But beyond the economic benefits, more and more companies are turning to recycle because of the green credentials this adds to their company’s image and reputation.

Scrap metal recycling is the process of taking unwanted metals and re-manufacturing or reproducing them for new products. Instead of extracting minerals and raw materials, metals from old cars, used appliances, leftover scrap from construction sites and many other sources – what we would otherwise presume to be junk – gets recycled and resold.

It’s become a thriving business across the globe today because more and more manufacturers need their products. Manufacturing so many products without recycled scrap would be far costlier, and considerably less friendly to our environment.

Natural resources conservation gets promoted each time we turn to scrap recycling rather than mining for virgin ore, and recycling is a proven way to cut down on the pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that the mining process releases.

The recycling of scrap metals will also:

• Prevent air, water and soil pollution
• Save energy and raw materials
• Conserve space in landfill sites

Unfortunately, far too much scrap continues to end up in landfills. That’s one reason why both the state and federal governments have a future role to play in helping to raise awareness of the clear economic and environmental benefits of scrap recycling.

The federal government could also provide incentives, possibly in the form of tax breaks, for investments in new technologies that make the industry even cleaner and more environmentally beneficial for us all.

And there’s no doubt about it: this industry is certain to grow in an era of accelerated urbanization and industrialization, and growth in infrastructural activities. These are global trends that show no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

In fact, by 2020, industry analysts say the scrap metal recycling industry is projected to grow to $406 billion U.S. dollars, thanks to the rapidly increasing need for metal products.

A lot of other factors are driving the growth in this industry. Rising incomes and the spending capacity of people in developing economies is one of them. Another is the fact that industries in need of metals are also growing: building and construction trades, metal fabrication, electronics, medical and health care equipment, automotive, and packaging are just some of the industries helping to drive the growth of the Metal Recycling Market.

In the United States, there are laws, and often strict ones, pertaining to waste management. But there are not as many laws pertaining to the need for scrap recycling. Still, public awareness about the need for efficient use of our natural resources, combined with the growing demand for recycled metals, may start changing that.

It’s also a strong motivation for public and private investment in the future of scrap recycling, with an eye on new technologies within the recycling industry. Making the processing of new metal for manufacturing more sophisticated will help us address serious environmental challenges, and it’s why we can all celebrate going green.

Conclusion

The economic benefits of recycling metals is increasing day by day. As our global economy keeps getting stronger, scrap recycling remains a fast-growing industry at a time when manufacturers have come to rely on recycled scrap to reduce costs when they manufacture new products.

And we all benefit from a healthier environment when we keep waste scrap out of our landfills.

Now we need to increase recycling rates for scrap metal, by encouraging consumers and businesses alike to take all their scrap to an experienced and proven recycling firm like GLE Scrap Metal.

As a premier scrap metal and electronics recycler, GLE Scrap Metal performs environmentally-friendly processing and recycling of all base and precious metals. Family owned and operated, the scrap metal you bring to GLE will be processed and supplied to global end-users to be transformed into new products.

Call GLE Scrap Metal today at 855-SCRAP-88 to request a quote.

1. Why is it important to recycle batteries?

It is illegal to dispose of batteries in the trash. Batteries contain corrosive materials and heavy metals that can contaminate the environment. This significantly reduces the dangers these batteries pose to human health and the environment by diverting them from landfills and incinerators.

2. What would happen if batteries were not recycled properly?

The toxic materials within the batteries can be released into the environment and pose serious threats to human health and the environment. If placed in landfills, the toxic materials can leak into the soil, which can then reach our water supply. If incinerated, toxic fumes are produced.

3. What types of batteries can be recycled?

All batteries, disposable and rechargeable, with the exception of automotive-type lead-acid batteries, may be placed in the battery collection containers. If you have a leaking or damaged battery 

4. How do I recycle my batteries?

Just drop them off at the nearest battery bin and Contact BPL Nigeria. 

5. How long may I store or accumulate depleted batteries in my workspace before turning them in?

You may keep batteries in your workspace for 1 month; then they should be placed in a recycling bin or picked up by Recycling.

6. If I make a special request for pick up because of the size and/or quantity of the batteries; how should batteries be prepared for pickup?

All batteries should be segregated by category to facilitate proper shipping to the appropriate recycling center. Batteries may be boxed, enclosed in ziplock bags, envelopes, or taped together, etc. Specific consideration should be given to the weight and size of the entire package to ensure that it remains intact during the pickup, handling, and transportation. All rechargeable batteries, and lithium or magnesium single-use batteries should have the terminals taped for safe transportation. Use non-conductive tape and place it around the top and bottom of the batteries.

7. What about leaking or damaged batteries?

These batteries should be containerized securely and labeled as “leaking batteries” preferably in a double zip lock or plastic bags appropriate for their size and weight. Do not mix the broken batteries with intact cartridges, since the entire batch will be contaminated with corrosive waste and require additional vendor labor to process properly for shipping and disposal.

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