There have always been two schools of thought in the battery industry regarding the recycling of dry batteries.
One group believes that centralized recycling of disposable batteries is of little significance. Without conditions for treatment, centralized recycling will cause concentrated pollution. Some experts believe that the main components of dry batteries, which are currently the most recycled, are iron, zinc, manganese, and trace amounts of mercury. This kind of battery does not contain high mercury, so there is no need for centralized recycling. Lead-acid batteries and nickel-cadmium batteries, which are very harmful to human health, should be recycled. The mercury content in high-mercury batteries is only one thousandth of the total battery capacity. After being landfilled, the amount of heavy metals in the battery that enters the landfill is very small and does not constitute pollution. The cost of recycling and processing used batteries is too high and is unprofitable from an economic point of view, not to mention that secondary pollution may occur during the recycling process.
According to the relevant person in charge of the China Battery Association, my country's disposable dry batteries have basically achieved low mercury and are moving towards mercury-free. They will not pose a threat to the environment when dispersed with garbage. What should be done more is to eliminate pollution from the production faucet, that is, to achieve mercury-free production. Because the cost of recycling disposable batteries is very high, and there is no economic leverage to stimulate companies to recycle disposable batteries, things are difficult to do. What needs to be recycled are rechargeable batteries and lead-acid batteries that pollute the environment. Some experts also cited the example that some developed countries currently do not recycle disposable batteries in a centralized manner.
Another view is that no matter what type of battery, it must be recycled. Experts with this view believe that the vast majority of civilians in our country use disposable batteries, and the process of mercury-free batteries is not optimistic. Among the more than 1,000 battery manufacturers in my country, only more than 300 are registered with the China Battery Association. Although batteries produced by large battery companies are currently low-mercury or mercury-free, batteries produced by a large number of small companies still have high mercury levels. Zhang Hu, a senior engineer at the Hebei Provincial Dry Battery Inspection Station, said that at present, the mercury content of batteries in my country is uneven. Some are of very good quality, less than one part per million; some are extremely poor, 20 times higher than the low-mercury battery standard, and high 10,000 times higher than mercury-free battery standards.
It is also understood that there are currently less than 15 large battery manufacturers in China that can mass-produce low-mercury and mercury-free batteries. A recent survey on batteries by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce showed that 20% of the batteries on the Chinese market failed to meet standards. Therefore, it is not in line with the national conditions to apply the experience of developed countries that have achieved mercury-free batteries in not recycling disposable batteries to apply to our country's reality. Relevant experts believe that not only mercury in batteries will cause pollution, but zinc, manganese, cadmium, lead, etc. will also cause pollution when they rot and seep into the ground with domestic waste. If they exceed a certain limit, they will also cause pollution. These harmful substances enter the human body along the food chain, posing a great threat to human health.
At present, the level of China's garbage disposal methods is low. China's annual garbage generation is 14,000 tons, and the treatment rate is 63%, but less than 10% are truly harmless. Of the nearly a thousand landfills in large and medium-sized cities in my country, 90% are still simply piled. This primitive treatment method can easily cause large-scale pollution. Disposal of used batteries with household waste will cause endless troubles. Experts believe that a large number of old batteries are sent to the garbage dump along with the garbage, which is also a kind of concentration. How can it not cause pollution? Mr. Zheng, the relevant person in charge of the Beijing Municipal Administration Committee, said that it is safer to collect used batteries and dispose of them when conditions are available than to disperse them.
Professor Zeng Pingrong from the University of Science and Technology Beijing emphasized the necessity of recycling disposable dry batteries from the perspective of resource utilization. He said that more than 90% of the batteries currently produced in China are dry batteries, which cannot cause pollution to the environment. Moreover, not recycling these batteries is also a huge waste of resources. 3,000 tons of used batteries can recover 141 tons of zinc ingots, 300 tons of metallurgical manganese dioxide, 260 tons of iron sheets, 181 tons of electrolytic zinc, 340 tons of electrolytic manganese dioxide, and 500 tons of iron sheets. The value is equivalent to the cost of developing two medium-sized mines in the country. , not to mention these are non-renewable one-time resources.
Zinc recycling from dry batteries is still in the research stage in my country. Both Japan and South Korea have built dry battery recycling plants with an annual output of more than 5,000 tons of zinc. Experts call on relevant national departments to pay great attention to secondary zinc resource recycling.
First, the scraps of galvanized steel, which uses the largest amount of zinc, need to be concentrated in specialized steel plants that can effectively recover zinc. Secondly, we must accelerate the pace of research and break through the cost-effective recycling process of waste dry batteries as soon as possible. If the secondary metal recycling rate of zinc reaches 30% of consumption, it means that my country can recycle 900,000 tons of zinc every year, which will relieve the pressure on zinc resources to a great extent.
The reporter learned that a "waste battery resource utilization" production line with an annual processing capacity of 1,000 tons has an equipment investment of 800,000 yuan and an annual profit of 2 million yuan.
"Recycling Resources Law": Will the government pay for manufacturers?
As for the debate between the two factions on the disposal of dry batteries, the environmental protection department has expressed neutrality. It believes that since disposable batteries meet mercury-free standards, it neither encourages nor opposes the centralized recycling of used disposable dry batteries. During the interview, an internal official from the environmental protection department expressed concern about the consequences of such an "ambiguous" attitude. He said that doing so now may seem to shirk responsibility, but in the end it may bring more onerous responsibilities to himself.
His concerns were confirmed at the National People's Congress Environmental and Resource Protection Work Forum held in Shenzhen on December 4. This meeting formed a draft of the "Circular Economy Law", in which It is stipulated that the responsibility for the classification, collection, utilization and disposal of used dry batteries shall be borne by the local environmental protection department.
It is quite interesting that in early December, the European Union also announced a directive on the recycling of used batteries. The EU requires the mandatory recycling of used batteries starting in 2008, and the recycling costs will be borne by the manufacturers. The EU also stipulates that starting from 2009, all batteries sold in the EU must indicate a specific service life; before 2012, 1/4 of the used batteries in the EU must be recycled; in 2016, this proportion should reach 45. In addition, batteries containing more than 0.0005% mercury and 0.002% cadmium will be banned from sale in the EU.
According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, in 2005, my country's export volume of various types of batteries exceeded 22.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4%; the export earnings exceeded 5.1 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 28%, of which lithium-ion battery exports amounted to US$2.32 billion, accounting for 45% of total exports. At present, my country is the world's largest producer of zinc-manganese and alkali-manganese batteries, and the world's second-largest producer and exporter of lithium-ion batteries.
Relevant experts pointed out that China's domestic battery manufacturers will face a reshuffle, which will also force them to improve battery environmental protection production standards and lay a technical foundation for promoting the responsibility of domestic waste battery recycling manufacturers in the future.