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The Generation and Hazards of Waste Batteries

Dry cell batteries are among the most widely used commodities in our daily lives. From cameras, tape recorders, calculators, and electronic alarm clocks to pagers, electronic dictionaries, and PDAs, none can function without them. my country is a major producer and consumer of dry cell batteries, with an annual production of 15 billion units, ranking first in the world, and a consumption of 7 billion units. On average, each Chinese person consumes 5 dry cell batteries per year, resulting in a massive amount of waste batteries.

While waste batteries are small, their harm is significant. However, because waste battery pollution is not as perceptible as garbage, air, or water pollution, it is highly insidious and has not received the attention it deserves. Currently, my country has become a major producer and consumer of batteries, and waste battery pollution is a major environmental problem that urgently needs to be addressed. In terms of volume and weight, waste batteries are negligible in household waste, but their harmful effects are enormous. Batteries contain heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead. Mercury is highly toxic. Lead can cause neurological disorders and nephritis; cadmium primarily causes kidney damage and bone diseases—osteoporosis, rickets, and fractures. If waste batteries are mixed with household garbage and landfilled, over time, the leaching heavy metals may pollute groundwater and soil.

For a long time, my country has added a toxic substance—mercury or mercury compounds—to the production of dry-cell batteries. The mercury content in my country's alkaline dry-cell batteries reaches 1-5%, and in neutral dry-cell batteries, it is 0.025%. Tens of tons of mercury are used annually in dry-cell battery production nationwide. Mercury is what we commonly call "quicksilver." Mercury and its compounds are toxic. Scientists have discovered that mercury has significant neurotoxicity and also adversely affects the endocrine and immune systems. Minamata disease, a pollution-related illness that shocked the world in Japan in the 1950s, was caused by mercury pollution.

More than 40 years ago, a strange disease appeared among the residents of Minamata, a small coastal town in southern Kyushu, Japan. The patient initially experienced slurred speech, unsteady gait, and numbness in the limbs, eventually progressing to full-body convulsions, mental derangement, and death in agonizing torment. Later, more and more people contracted the disease, even cats and seabirds exhibiting the same symptoms. Medical workers later discovered toxic methylmercury in the bodies of the deceased and in the bodies of marine fish, proving that the poisoning occurred from consuming contaminated fish. An investigation revealed that a local Japanese nitrogen fertilizer company had been discharging mercury-containing wastewater into Minamata Bay for years, contaminating the seawater and causing high concentrations of methylmercury in locally caught seafood.

To restore the ecological environment of Minamata Bay, the Japanese government spent 14 years and invested 48.5 billion yen to dredge and remove all the mercury-containing sediment from the bay to a depth of 4 meters. Simultaneously, a safety net was erected at the entrance to Minamata Bay, and all contaminated fish in the bay were captured and buried. Masazumi Yoshii, the mayor of Minamata City, Japan, who witnessed the Minamata disease outbreak firsthand, remarked with emotion: "After nearly half a century of unremitting efforts, we have finally emerged from the shadow of Minamata disease and are building a new Minamata City. I hope the whole world will learn from the lessons of Minamata disease in Japan, abandon ignorant production methods, and promote civilized production methods."

This demonstrates that the harm of discarded batteries to the environment and human health far exceeds our imagination. Carelessly discarding batteries not only pollutes the environment and harms human health but also wastes resources. Based on the annual production of 10 billion batteries, this would consume 156,000 tons of zinc, 226,000 tons of manganese dioxide, 2,080 tons of copper, 27,000 tons of zinc chloride, 79,000 tons of ammonium chloride, and 43,000 tons of carbon rods annually. Therefore, recycling and reusing discarded batteries is beneficial to the country and its people and is imperative. This requires finding ways to solve the pollution caused by discarded batteries.

(II) Recycling of Waste Batteries

While waste batteries are often called "waste," they are not entirely useless. They contain a large amount of non-ferrous metals, which are precious, non-renewable resources on Earth. The best way to handle waste batteries is through recycling, extracting useful components and turning waste into resources. Recycling waste batteries is the primary and most challenging aspect of waste battery environmental management. Because batteries are used by countless households, businesses, and individuals, and each user's usage is relatively small, collecting waste batteries is extremely difficult. Environmental management of waste batteries is a complex systemic project involving a series of processes such as collection, sorting, transportation, treatment, and disposal. It involves a wide range of stakeholders and requires the cooperation of environmental protection departments, sanitation departments, economic management departments, battery manufacturers, battery distributors, and the public. Furthermore, public education and awareness campaigns must be combined with administrative, legal, and economic measures to effectively promote this work. However, according to statistics from the China Battery Industry Association, China's current waste battery recycling rate is less than 2%. Taking Shanghai, a leading city in waste battery recycling nationwide, as an example, Shanghai currently has five ways to recycle waste batteries: setting up special "hazardous waste" bins or dedicated waste battery recycling points in pilot communities; establishing waste battery recycling points in primary and secondary schools and government agencies since 1998; offering a 20-cent discount for each used battery purchased at over 2,000 "Oriental Newsstands" throughout the city; setting up recycling points in large supermarkets such as Hualian and Lianhua, as well as some large department stores; and installing special recycling bins for waste batteries on street-side recycling bins. Although Shanghai started its waste battery recycling program in May 1998, the city now has over 6,000 waste battery recycling points and has recycled over 175 tons of waste batteries to date. This is still far from the 3,200 tons of waste batteries generated annually in the city.

Currently, developed countries have made significant progress in the environmental management of waste batteries. In Germany, all waste batteries are now collected, sorted, and disposed of. The government has enacted legislation clearly stipulating that highly toxic lead-acid batteries, mercury-containing batteries, and nickel-cadmium batteries must be labeled for recycling; battery manufacturers and distributors must collect all waste batteries; distributors must classify labeled and unlabeled batteries; battery manufacturers must establish battery recycling and processing facilities; all waste batteries must be prioritized for recycling, and non-recyclable batteries must be properly disposed of according to waste management laws; in battery production, efforts are being made to further reduce the heavy metal content of batteries, especially the mercury content of alkaline manganese batteries, and to actively develop new products with less environmental harm. The United States has the most detailed and comprehensive legislation on waste battery environmental management. It has not only established a comprehensive waste battery recycling system but also numerous waste battery processing plants, while consistently conducting public education campaigns to encourage public support and cooperation in waste battery recycling.

(III) Waste Battery Processing

Recycling waste batteries is the first step in the process of reuse, and reprocessing is crucial. Currently, the collected waste batteries are still lying in warehouses, without a home. The technology for processing used batteries is not a problem; developed countries already have readily available technologies that can be adopted. It is understood that a "wet processing" plant is under construction near Magdeburg, Germany. Here, all types of batteries except lead-acid batteries are dissolved in sulfuric acid, and then various metals are extracted from the solution using ion-exchange resins. The raw materials obtained in this way are purer than those obtained through thermal treatment, and therefore command a higher market price. Moreover, 95% of the various substances contained in the batteries can be extracted. Wet processing eliminates the sorting step (as sorting is manual and increases costs). This Magdeburg plant has an annual processing capacity of 7,500 tons. Although its cost is slightly higher than landfill methods, valuable raw materials are not discarded, and there is no environmental pollution. The vacuum thermal treatment method developed by the German company ALT is even cheaper. However, this method first requires sorting out nickel-cadmium batteries from the waste batteries. The waste batteries are heated in a vacuum, where mercury evaporates rapidly and can be recovered. Then, the remaining raw materials are ground, and metallic iron is extracted using magnets. Nickel and manganese are then extracted from the remaining powder. The cost of processing one ton of waste batteries is less than 1500 marks. In Switzerland, there are two factories specializing in processing and utilizing used batteries. The Battläck company grinds the used batteries and then heats them in a furnace. At this point, the volatilized mercury is extracted, and at higher temperatures, zinc also evaporates; zinc is also a valuable metal. Iron and manganese are fused together to form ferromanganese alloy, needed for steelmaking. This factory can process 2000 tons of waste batteries annually, yielding 780 tons of ferromanganese alloy, 400 tons of zinc alloy, and 3 tons of mercury. Another factory directly extracts iron from the batteries and sells the mixture of manganese oxide, zinc oxide, copper oxide, and nickel oxide as scrap metal. However, the heat treatment method is expensive, and Switzerland also mandates a small processing fee for each battery buyer.

We understand that some domestic research institutions and enterprises have also developed related technologies. The Hebei Donghua Xinxin Waste Battery Recycling Plant, using waste battery processing technology from Beijing University of Science and Technology, is under construction. The Beijing Municipal Development and Planning Commission has also approved the establishment of a waste dry battery processing plant using European technology and equipment. In Henan Province, Xinxiang Battery Factory has already developed a complete set of technologies and production equipment for the recycling and reuse of waste batteries. After two years of research, Anshan City, Liaoning Province, has successfully trial-produced a waste battery recycling, resource regeneration, and harmless treatment process, which has been approved by relevant experts and departments.

(IV) Current Status of Waste Battery Recycling and Treatment in my country

To strengthen the prevention and control of mercury pollution from battery products and protect and improve my country's ecological environment, nine departments, including the former China National Light Industry Council, jointly issued the "Regulations on Restricting Mercury Content in Battery Products" on December 31, 1997. These regulations required that, starting from January 1, 2001, imported batteries would be subject to mandatory inspection by the State Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau. According to the regulations, my country's battery industry will implement restrictions on the mercury content of battery products in stages, first achieving low mercury content and ultimately mercury-free content. Low mercury means the mercury content in the battery is less than 0.025% of the battery's weight; mercury-free means the mercury content in the battery is less than 0.001% of the battery's weight. The regulations explicitly state that, effective January 1, 2001, the domestic production of batteries with a mercury content exceeding 0.025% of their weight is prohibited. From January 1, 2001, all domestic and foreign battery products (including batteries for electrical appliances) entering the domestic market must label their mercury content on individual cells (e.g., "low mercury" or "mercury-free"). Batteries without mercury content labeling are not permitted for sale. From January 1, 2002, the distribution of batteries with a mercury content exceeding 0.025% of their weight in the domestic market is prohibited. From January 1, 2005, the domestic production of alkaline zinc-manganese batteries with a mercury content exceeding 0.001% of their weight is prohibited. From January 1, 2006, the distribution of alkaline zinc-manganese batteries with a mercury content exceeding 0.001% of their weight in the domestic market is prohibited. To ensure the timely conduct of inspections of imported batteries, the State Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau is expediting preparations for the commencement of inspections. With increasing environmental awareness, the hazards of used batteries have attracted widespread attention, and more and more people are voluntarily collecting them. In August 2000, the *Beijing Youth Daily* reported that Tian Guirong from Xinxiang, Henan Province, spent over 20,000 yuan collecting 30 tons of used batteries. In April 2002, the *Yangtze Evening Post* reported that Ding Fengzhu, a 68-year-old retired teacher from Xuzhou, spent three years collecting thousands of used batteries of various sizes. Meanwhile, environmental organizations across the country launched battery recycling campaigns, calling on people to collect used batteries to reduce environmental pollution. In December 2001, hundreds of universities in Beijing jointly launched a large-scale battery recycling campaign, "Entering the Campus, Protecting Our Home," mobilizing students to actively participate in organizing and collecting used batteries, which yielded excellent results. Government agencies also played a role in this campaign. In 2000, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Sanitation Bureau partnered with over 50 fast-food restaurants and over 40 chain stores, including McDonald's, Rogers, Polaris Photo Agency, Good Neighbor, Aoshikai, and Xinjiekou Department Store, to collect used batteries. Collection bins on battery counters in some shopping malls and specially set up classified garbage bins by the Environmental Sanitation Bureau formed a large net to "hunt" these tiny batteries.

However, amidst the surge in used battery recycling, we found that used batteries still haven't achieved true recycling. Although the recycling work has gained public support, reporters found that the recycling situation is not optimistic; the recycled used batteries only account for a small fraction of the batteries sold. Where exactly is the problem? We believe the reasons are:

1. Government departments have not truly played a role in this work. The "Fixed Waste Prevention and Control Law" does not contain detailed rules for battery recycling; there are no rewards or penalties for recycling or not recycling, and relevant functional departments cannot provide targeted guidance to manufacturers, recycling departments, and individuals.

2. Currently, the recycling network for used batteries is largely self-organized and haphazardly constructed by individuals and organizations. Despite significant public awareness campaigns, a lack of understanding among residents about the hazards of used batteries hinders the widespread practice of voluntarily collecting and turning them in. Therefore, a large-scale recycling network remains elusive. While some individuals are engaged in collection, their limited capacity prevents them from achieving economies of scale. Even after several years of effort, the collected quantity is only a drop in the ocean compared to sales volume.

3. Battery manufacturers supply hundreds of millions of batteries annually to society, but very few are truly aware of and actively participate in the recycling process.

Regarding this issue, we offer three suggestions:

1. Increase publicity efforts to raise awareness among more people that used batteries must be recycled, thereby encouraging voluntary recycling. 1. Actively participate in recycling activities.

2. The state should provide support in terms of policies, regulations, technological innovation, and financial investment. Relevant policies and regulations should be formulated to mandate the recycling of used dry-cell batteries and prohibit their indiscriminate disposal in household waste. Research institutions and enterprises actively participating in the recycling of used dry-cell batteries should receive preferential policies and funding to ensure the appreciation of investors' capital and the priority promotion of their products.

3. Create various convenient conditions for the recycling of used dry-cell batteries, such as setting up used dry-cell battery recycling bins in public places, accelerating the popularization of waste sorting and recycling, and establishing special garbage bins for battery recycling in residential areas. When selling batteries, implement a deposit system or adopt a trade-in system to ensure the recycling rate of used dry-cell batteries. With the full mobilization of all social forces, the recycling of used batteries is not difficult to solve.