Lead-Acid Batteries 3034

A BATTERY IS A DEVICE in which the energy of a chemical reaction can be converted into electricity. Small, sealed button and six-volt batteries are used for consumer products; “starting batteries” deliver a short burst of high power to start engines; “deep-cycle batteries” deliver a low, steady level of power for electrical accessories such as trolling motors on boats; and large industrial batteries have thicker plates and can supply low steady power for years. This profile is limited to lead-acid batteries used by motor vehicles.

A lead-acid battery consists of a polypropylene casing; lead terminals and positive and negative internal plates; lead oxide; electrolyte, a dilute solution of sulfuric acid and water; and plastic separators made of a porous synthetic material. More than 80 percent of the lead produced in America is used in lead-acid batteries.

Lead-acid batteries have the highest recycling rate of any product sold in the United States. This is because of the ease of returning a used battery when purchasing a new battery and the value of the lead and plastic components of the used battery.

Chaz Miller is state programs director for the National Solid Wastes Management Association, Washington, D.C. E-mail the author at: [email protected]

Lead-Acid Battery Municipal Solid Waste Facts:

Generated:

Recycled:

Recycled Content:

Composted:

Incinerated or Landfilled:

Landfill Volume:

Density

Source-Reduction:

Recycling Markets:

Sources:

Battery Council International, www.batterycouncil.org

“Measurement Standards and Reporting Guidelines”, National Recycling Coalition, Washington, D.C., www.nrc-recycle.org

“Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2003,” U.S. EPA, 2005, www.epa.gov/osw

Waste Age, “If They Ban It, Will It Go Away?” October 1993

*EPA estimates for 2003