Where do used lead-acid batteries go?

The lead-acid battery of electric bicycles is listed as hazardous waste by the state because it contains lead, and if it is not properly recycled, it will cause serious pollution of water and soil. Recently, the poster news reporter visited and found that the public is not clear about how to deal with waste lead-acid batteries, a sound recycling system has not yet been established, and the safe recycling of waste batteries is still facing challenges.

"Trade-in" is a must-have action for electric vehicle sales

On April 8, the reporter randomly interviewed 10 citizens riding electric bicycles in Jinan city on how to deal with the lead-acid batteries of waste electric vehicles, of which 4 citizens said they did not know, 5 said they could go to the store to participate in the trade-in, and 1 said they could sell scrap.

On the same day, the poster news reporter saw in the electric vehicle sales stores along Dongguan Street in Jinan that the new electric vehicles were placed in rows, and several old batteries were placed in the maintenance area. According to Mr. Xu, a salesperson, the current lead-acid battery capacity is divided into 48 volts 20 amps, 48 volts 23 amps, etc., with a range of 50 kilometers to 80 kilometers, and can usually be used for 5 to 6 years. "Because of the safety, low cost of use (and other factors) of lead-acid batteries, more than 90% of the lead-acid battery electric vehicles currently on sale on the market. ”

During the interview, the reporter found that "trade-in" is a necessary action for almost every electric vehicle sales point. Mr. Xu said that the battery is a consumable product, generally speaking, the use of electric vehicles for about 3 years, the battery performance began to decline, the business to consumers to launch the "old for the new", regardless of the brand, as long as the electric bicycle can go to any brand store to buy a new car, the current discount of the old car ranges from 300 yuan to 1000 yuan, and the sales of the old for the new account for about one-tenth of the total sales.

Who can receive it?

In addition to the "trade-in" of sales stores, where can waste lead-acid batteries go?

The reporter interviewed and found that recycling vendors and waste collection stations are also a link in the recycling chain of waste lead-acid batteries, but the recycling personnel are scattered and the threshold is low.

At the Wangguanzhuang thrift market, Lao Chen recycles old household appliances, old furniture, waste paper, etc., including lead-acid batteries from used electric vehicles. "We don't look at the degree of newness, just the weight, 3.5 yuan per catty, and then we send these batteries to a large scrap collection station. ”

Ms. Wang and her husband specialize in recycling end-of-life electric bicycles, and the couple drive a medium-sized truck every day to repair and sell electric bicycles in various shops in Jinan, where they mainly recycle the old electric bicycles that have been replaced, and then sell the batteries and frames separately, and the batteries are sent to the collection station, and the frames are sent to the factories that specialize in dismantling. "We regularly visit these repair and sales stores, take away old cars, and recycle about 10 cars a day, but we don't recycle personal batteries or electric vehicles because we are worried that the source will not be known. Ms. Wang said.

On social platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu, search for "waste electric vehicle battery recycling", and you can find many recyclers engaged in electric vehicle batteries, who can generally come to recycle.

During the interview, Ms. Wang and Lao Chen both said that they did not have relevant qualifications, and the waste lead-acid batteries they received were sent to the waste lead-acid battery collection station. Unlike vendors such as Ms. Wang and Lao Chen, operators of waste lead-acid battery collection stations should have certain qualifications and apply for a permit from the environmental protection department.

On the same day, the reporter came to the Jinan New Material Trading Center, where hundreds of thousands of tons of waste batteries were sent every day, and then sent to the lead-acid treatment plant for professional recycling.

At a collection station, discharge permits are prominently displayed, and simple warehouses are stacked with used batteries. The staff told reporters that according to the regulations, the waste lead-acid battery collection station must be far away from the residential area, and the nature of the land belongs to the industrial site. There were four waste lead-acid battery collection stations in this park, but now there are only two, and there are currently three such collection stations in the whole of Jinan.

"We don't go out to collect them, and the small traders will send the recycled used batteries to us. Our purchase price is 9,400 yuan per ton, and we will transport it to a professional waste lead treatment plant. The staff member said.

During the interview, within an hour of noon, two vendors delivered the recovered used batteries to the collection station.

There is still a gap in the standard collection and processing

"On the consumer side, there are almost no hidden dangers of lead, and the potential safety hazards are mainly in the process of dismantling and reproduction. Professor Che Quande of the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Jinan University said that lead-acid batteries are heavy metal batteries and are mainly used in power vehicles. Lead is a toxic heavy metal that is extremely harmful to the human body, but at the consumer end, people are not exposed to lead, and there are almost no potential safety hazards. However, in the process of dismantling and reproduction, if the operation is improper, it will lead to leakage, and if lead and its compounds enter the body, it will cause harm to multiple systems such as nerves, hematopoiesis, digestion, kidneys, cardiovascular and endocrine. At the same time, lead leakage also has a certain amount of pollution to the land and environment.

At the same time, Professor Che Quande said that lead-acid batteries contain electrolyte, and with the use of time, the amount of electrolyte gradually decreases, resulting in a decrease in the capacity of the battery. After recycling, the lead-acid battery power is mainly restored through by-product regeneration, reduction and other technical operations.

According to the requirements of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste in the Mainland, units engaged in the business activities of collecting, storing, utilizing and disposing of hazardous wastes shall apply for a license. At the same time, enterprises engaged in battery collection and storage need to obtain a "hazardous waste business license" in accordance with the law, and it is prohibited to operate without a license and not in accordance with the requirements of the business license. Lead-acid battery manufacturers can collect batteries through independent recycling, joint recycling, commissioned recycling, etc.

Shandong Province is an important consumer market and production base for electric vehicles, with about 35 million electric bicycles in the province alone, and one electric bicycle for every three people. According to statistics, in August 2022, more than 3.8 million electric bicycles in Jinan were listed, and the annual sales of electric vehicles in Jinan were more than 300,000, and the weight of lead-acid batteries in each electric vehicle was about 50 kilograms. In 2022, the Shandong Provincial Environmental Protection Department mentioned in its reply to the proposal of the Provincial Political Consultative Conference that in 2021, the province will standardize the collection and treatment of 403,800 tons of waste lead-acid batteries, and there is still a gap in standardized collection and treatment.

Industry insiders said that at present, the safe and smooth recycling channels of waste batteries have not been fully established, especially before the waste electric vehicle batteries enter the waste lead-acid battery collection station, the recycling system has loopholes, and most of them are corporate behaviors. In the interview, a person in charge of the Texas waste lead-acid battery collection station said that the people's understanding of the correct disposal of waste batteries is relatively weak, and they should strengthen publicity and efforts, and at the same time mobilize the strength of all sectors of society to improve the recycling system.

Source: Poster News