Page 57 from: October 2013

57October 2013

B A T T E R Y R E C Y C L I N G

tion which stipulates that prior notification by

exporting countries is needed as well as consent

by importing countries.

‘While most municipalities in Japan accept dry

cells with box collections, button type and small

rechargeable batteries are collected by big manu-

facturers like the Button Battery Collection Pro-

motion Center (BCPC), via retailers,’ stated

Terazono. Lead-acid batteries are commonly col-

lected at shops. ‘The formal battery sector in

Japan is doing good business,’ was his conclusion.

Massive hoarding
According to Takao, the BAJ recently complet-

ed a study spanning five years to gain more of

an insight into consumer behaviour regarding

battery-driven products. It revealed that such

products are typically used for three years but

are ‘hoarded on a massive scale’ in consumers’

homes way after they have stopped working –

for up to six years on average.

From an analysis of the ‘meaning of disposal’,

Takao concluded that consumers have most

trouble throwing away ‘expensive products’ like

cameras and reasonably small appliances that

can be easily stored at home.

Some cases of hoarding are extreme, he

acknowledged. Small rechargeable batteries, for

instance, have the most ‘impressive’ disposal

term, ranging from the base of three years all

the way up to 16 years. Interestingly, this is not

at all true for lithium-ion batteries. In fact, lap-

top batteries are generally taken to collection

points after ‘only four years’ of sitting in the

attic or elsewhere. Men mostly don’t bother to

keep them at all, returning them the instant the

device has served its purpose.

Takao also cited a BAJ forecast that the global

rechargeable battery market will expand to

US$ 215 billion in 2020, including portable prod-

ucts such as laptops and mobile phones (US$ 15

billion) as well as the electronic vehicles and

hybrid electronic vehicles market (US$ 80 billion).

Indeed, Ford Motor Company confirmed the

momentum building within the automotive

sector. ‘Battery recyclers must prepare for an

influx of large volumes of hybrid batteries as

they will reach their EoL (end-of-life) stage at

the end of this decade,’ observed Renata Arse-

nault, senior researcher at Ford’s Research and

Innovation Center. US sales of such vehicles

were a little over 300 000 in 2012.

Arsenault described lead-acid batteries as an

‘established technology’ that today enjoys a

‘mature and effective’ recycling infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the intrinsic value of the nickel in

NiMH batteries has been a successful ‘free-

market driver’ of recycling, paving the way for

an essentially ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.

NiMH batteries are considered ‘universal waste’,

she remarked.

Given that Li-ion batteries are lighter and small-

er, they will eventually ‘dominate and overtake

NiMH for most electrical applications’, Arsenault

added. ‘Existing battery recycling processes have

evolved around consumer electronics and must

first adapt to meet the unique challenges of high-

voltage traction batteries.’ Besides transportation

issues owing to their size and weight, a real prob-

lem is the fact that there is ‘no real chemistry

convergence’, introducing ‘a host of sorting and

labelling implications’.

Above all, Arsenault

stressed, the North

American value chain

for automotive batter-

ies is ‘much more

complex’ than that of

Europe, not least

because there is no

national law covering

them. ‘Luckily, extend-

ed producer responsi-

bility laws do exist and are even emerging at state

level,’ she asserted.

In a similar vein, End of Life Vehicle Solutions

(ELVS) was established back in 2006 to serve as

a compliance mechanism for the country’s

countless OEMs. Its main mission is to assist

the collection of mercury-containing switches,

in line with state requirements released that

year. ‘Right now, there are over 9000 vehicle

dismantlers participating in this programme,’

said Arsenault, ‘and together they have col-

lected over 5 million switches and recycled over

5 tonnes of mercury.’

Most feasible strategy
Her voice became graver when returning to the

stark contrast between European and US obli-

gations and practices. ‘We will need a custom-

ised approach – a cookie-cutter solution will

not do,’ she said. In this context, Ford expects

reuse could help mitigate end-of-life disposal

costs and reduce life-cycle impacts.

Possible alternative applications include use in

golf carts and ‘smart homes’, the latter seeing

batteries in residential usage or sold on to util-

ity companies. These options are still being

evaluated, and yet Arsenault suggested repur-

posing was still counted largely as a wild idea.

‘Recycling is the most feasible strategy to imple-

ment in the short term,’ she noted.

Ford is just as wary about remanufacturing,

distrusting non-professionals to take it upon

themselves to get the job done. ‘We don’t mind

if people who know what they are doing are

involved,’ she explained. ‘However, incompetent

players should stay out of the battery business

– remanufacturing is not just a case of putting

in some new juice. What it comes down to is

this: there are certain dangers accompanying

high-voltage batteries. So, sure, remanufacture

is possible but it is not worth the risk.’

Benny van den Steen: ‘We must
promote collective wisdom.’

Professor Krause: PyroBubbles
might remove the hazards sur-
rounding battery transportation.

Wayne Elliot: ‘Slag is and will
always be a by-product.’

Rechargeable batteries are ‘hoarded’ in Japan for up to 16 years.

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