Germany – While appliances such as refrigerators have long been classed according to energy efficiency, the same type of ranking can now be applied to recycling plants. A special audit can accurately measure the site’s recycling efficiency (RE), declared Professor Bernd Friedrich of Germany’s Aachen University at the recent International Congress for Battery Recycling in Hamburg.
Friedrich has performed the first audit at Redux Recycling′s sites in Bremerhaven and Dietzenbach, Germany. The battery firm granted ′full access to every corner and paper′ at these plants during the two-day analysis, resulting in respective REs of 53.2% and 50.2% for alkaline batteries and of 88.5% and 91.1% for NiMH batteries. The entire process drew ratings of, in turn, 78.6% and 80.7%.
Highly accurate reading
As the head auditor, Friedrich chose a mixed batch of batteries at random. The material was then weighed and the recycling processes inspected. ′Then we verify the classification and reliability of the output stream,′ he told delegates. ′Humidity in battery cells is between 1-3%. This means we pick a sample that contains no units that have been run through a drying process – so it is based on the worst-case scenario to give the most accurate reading.′ In this way, results are trustworthy because ′the reality is always a little better′.
In the audit, only the mass belonging to the battery counts towards determining input mass; outer casings, wires and any other elements are excluded. Also, black mass is not considered a product, but an intermediate product. Scrap metal is classed as a metal and so is viewed as end-of-waste.
′We are an external party, so we are independent,′ Friedrich explained. ′This ensures the grade for recycling efficiency is indisputable. No extra audit is needed at the start of a new year if nothing has changed.′
For more information, visit: www.rwth-aachen.de
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