Lead acid battery manufacturer and distributor First National Battery officially launched its Scrap Battery division last month to address environmental concerns and promote the recycling of batteries.

Scrap Battery head Brian Cooper tells Engineering News that while First National Battery has been actively buying scrap lead acid batteries for recycling over the past ten years, a formal control division was needed to improve the total operation.

The Scrap Battery division identifies and collects lead acid battery scrap material from the different industries in South Africa in its efforts to ensure that it meets its objective of ensuring safe recycling and preventing environmental damage.

Battery components, such as lead, plastic and acid are harmful to the environment if not properly treated and most of these components are, fortunately, suited to recycling.

Scrap Battery collaborates with local battery franchise Battery Centre outlets in South Africa to collect batteries for recycling and also offers a collection service for high volumes of used lead acid batteries.

The used batteries are transported to the First National Battery recycling plant, in Benoni, which includes a government- certified battery breaker, an effluent plant that treats acid, a lead smelter, a blending kettle to produce specialised alloys and scrubbers to control environmental emissions.

A plastic reprocessing plant was also recently commissioned to complete the entire reprocessing cycle. First National Battery can therefore issue International Organisation for Standardisation-certified companies with registered disposal certificates, should they require them.

First National Battery MD Russell Bezuidenhout says many people do not realise that lead acid batteries have one of the highest recycling rates in the world, as more than 90% of all scrap batteries in South Africa are recycled, compared with 70% of beverage cans, 65% of newspaper, 30% of plastics and 26% of glass bottles.

“Despite this high rate of recyclability, a key concern in South Africa is distributors importing lead acid batteries without having recycling measures in place. These importers do not share the same sense of responsibility to protect the local environment. This is why Scrap Battery actively collects lead acid batteries of all types and brands for recycling in South Africa,” he says.

Further, owing to a shortage of lead in South Africa, local manufacturers have had to resort to importing heavy metals from Australia, among others.

Bezuidenhout adds that the situation could be avoided if the right system is in place to ensure that used lead acid batteries are properly recycled and their components are also recycled for reuse in the manufacturing process.

Meanwhile, Cooper notes that there has been a major thrust towards exporting scrap lead acid batteries to Asian countries.

“These exports are reducing the raw material available for recycling in South Africa, which results in additional lead raw material being imported at higher costs. This increase is the basic battery cost to the South African end-user,” he states.

Cooper adds that while industry and government have been working towards the reduction of scrap lead exports, there are still loopholes in the system that allowed thousands of tons to be exported each month.

However, imports are not a major concern unless dumping is taken into account.

Cooper says the concern heightens when lower- standard imports do not perform to the standards against which they are expected to perform.

Direct customer supply is also a concern.

“By acquiring products from local manufacturing companies, customers can benefit from a reliable and accessible customer support system, which is often lacking from international suppliers. There is a need for increased quality standards in this industry, together with customer education, so that they can make informed choices,” he says.