There are about 500 authorised recyclers of Lead Scrap/Used Lead Acid Batteries (ULAB) in India with a total processing capacity of 2.1 million metric tonnes per year. The control of lead bearing emissions, discharges, and disposal of wastes from these industries is regulated under the environmental legislation of the country. However, the observations made during visits to over 25+ recycling industries indicate that there is strong need for the industry to adopt a number of “On their own sort of” measures to ensure:
• Minimum Consumption of Resources (Men, Materials, Water, Energy)
• Minimum Generation of Wastes/Residues.
• Minimum emissions of Lead and other pollutants.
• No or minimum adverse impact on human health & environment.
There is need for all the associated with the industry to be aware of the sources of lead emissions, resource consumption & waste generation in the process and the practices to be adopted for developing Green Recycling facilities.
This presentation was made by me at the Seminar on Green Recycling of Used Lead Acid Batteries, organised jointly by the India Lead Zinc Development Association (ILZDA), the Millennium Institute of Energy & Environment Management (MIEEM) and the Indian Institute of Metals (IIM), at Kolkata on April 23, 2018. It covers the best possible which the industry can do on its own for making it a green recycling facility.
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Best management practices for green recycling of used lead acid batteries
1. Best Management Practices for Green Recycling of
Used lead Acid Batteries
By
Dr. R. S. Mahwar,
Environmental Adviser, India Lead Zinc Development Association (ILZDA)
Former Director (Addl), Central Pollution Control Board
(Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change), Govt. of India
Seminar on Green Recycling of Used Lead Batteries
April 23, 2018 - Kolkata
2. Lead Recycling Industries* in India
Total Registered : 497 (Spread over 18 States)
Total Capacity : 2.1 Million MTA
States with more than 100000 MTA Capacity : 9
• Andhra Pradesh
• Gujarat
• Haryana
• Karnataka
• Madhya Pradesh
• Maharashtra
• Rajasthan
• Uttar Pradesh
• West Bengal
(* Source - CPCB, Delhi)
3. What is Green Recycling...?
Adoption of Best Management Practices (BMPs) in the recycling process
to ensure :
• Minimum Consumption of Resources (Men, Materials, Water, Energy)
• Minimum Generation of Wastes/Residues.
• Minimum emissions of Lead and other pollutants.
• No or minimum adverse impact on human health & environment.
(Image Source: https://www.governmenteuropa.eu/aurelius-environmental-lead-acid-
battery-recycling/84514/)
4. Environmental and Health Standards for Lead
Limits in Environmental Matrices
• Lead in work area (8-hr avg.) : 0.05 mg/m3
• Lead in emission through stack : 10.0 mg/Nm3
• Lead in effluents : 0.10 mg/l
• Lead in factory premises near boundary wall (24-hr avg.) : 1.0 µg/m3
Limits in Human Blood
• Acceptable level in Blood : 10 µg/dl
• Medical examination at least once a year for lead levels in blood and urine
• Workers having lead in blood greater than 42 µg/dl to be shifted to non-
lead activity areas and given special medical treatment till the lead levels
come back to acceptable level.
5. Average Work Environment Specially in the Small Scale Lead Recycling
Industries : Need for Adopting BMPs
Images : Visits to Different Industries
6. Average Work Environment in Lead Recycling Industries
Image Source : WHO Report (2017) - Recycling Used Lead-acid Batteries: Health
Considerations
7. BMPs- Receipt and Unloading of ULAB/Lead Scrap
Separate access road- entry gate to the unloading point
Scrap storage close to furnace
Acid* collection system - Close to ULAB unloading point
Drained batteries storage - close to the Top Cutting Machine (TCM)
Paved flooring – Unloading, TCM and segregation area
Run off from Paved floor to Effluent treatment Plant (ETP)
Tyre washings system (Need Based)
Washings to ETP
Rain water run off from the access road to ETP
Shed for the access road (where possible)
(*Actual fate of the acid is still not very clear)
8. BMPs - Battery Breaking* and Component Segregation
Top Cutting Machine (TCM)
• Lowers/Enclosures
• Acoustics for Noise Control
Segregation area
• Close to TCM
• Paved floor with slope to ETP
• Components washings (flow through) with treated water form ETP
• Washings to ETP
Fugitive Emission Control
• Suction hoods over the TCM operation and segregation area
• Connection of suction hoods to Air Pollution Control System (APCS)
(*ULAB unloading and breaking area is still the most unorganised part in
the lead recycling industry)
9. BMPs - Storage and Disposal the Plastic Components*
Isolated and Covered Storage
Minimum storage time (Generation to Dispatch)
Sale to authorised recyclers
Transport by vehicles not involved in hazardous waste handling
Separate access road from plastics storage point to entry gate
Battery Cases not to be involved in any in-house use or taken by workers
(*The waste requires large storage space which is not available in most of
the industries. Also, there is no authentic information source available on
the actual use of this waste)
10. BMPs - Smelting and Casting Operation
Material for furnace to be kept ready near the furnace for loading
Air Pollution Control System to be in brought in operation before charging
Air blower to be kept off while the charging door/lid is open
Negative pressure at the loading door/molten metal taping point
Suction hoods for fugitive emission control in the casting area
Portable metallic containers for collection of slag*
Suction hoods for fugitive emission control in hot slag storage area
Suction Hoods to be connected to the APCS.
(*There is need for a third party or CPCB audit for accounting the
generation and disposal of this slag in the country)
11. BMPs - Air Pollution Control System(APCS)
Cooling/Settling Chambers
Cyclone Separator
Bag Filter (Pulse Jet/Vibrating)
Alkaline Scrubber
• Close loop
• Three sumps in series
• Overflow of one going to the next
• Recirculation from the third
• Monitoring of pH in the third sump
• Scrubber Blow down to ETP
Exhaust Blower
Stack
• Minimum 30 meters
• Port hole for sampling
• Monitoring platform and access ladder
12. BMPs - Effluent Treatment Plant *
Preferably Modular (specially for small scale units)
Preferably above ground level & under a shed
Physicochemical Treatment
Tertiary treatment by activated Charcoal
Built in Sludge Drying Beds
Overhead storage of the treated water from ETP
Use of treated water for scrubber water make up, washing of plastics etc
(*ETP is not existing in most of the old units, perhaps because the
recyclable lead wastes mentioned in the HW Rules 2003 and HW Rules
2008 imply receipt of only drained batteries for recycling)
13. BMPs - ETP for Units Generating Large Quantities of Spent Electrolyte
Design to include the treatment of sulphuric acid
Caustic Soda Treatment
• Availability of disposal options for high TDS water
• Recovery and use of the lead contaminated Sodium Sulphate
Lime treatment
• Larger area requirement
Sludge drying beds or press filter
Storage of Gypsum (Gets easily air borne in summer)
Availability of options for use/disposal of the Gypsum sludge
• Dependence on the existence of cement Kilns in the proximity
14. BMPs - Storage and Disposal of Wastes
Furnace Slag :
• Storage under covered shade
• Sent to TSDF
Ash from APCS
• Storage under covered shade
• Sent to TSDF
ETP Sludge
• Storage under covered shade
• Gypsum to be given to cement plants
• Sent to TSDF
Plastic Waste
• Sale to authorised recyclers
15. BMPs - Decontamination Station (DCS)*
DCS including the change room for workers
Gray water from DCS to ETP
Prevention of lead carry over specially with shoes/clothes
• Administrative building and all associated infrastructure
• Gray water
• Sewage
• Septic tank/STP
• Worker’s Canteen
• Vehicles
• Homes and public places
(* DCS not seen in any of the 20+ units visited)
16. BMPs - Management of Storm Water*
Rain water - major source of lead carry over
Complete segregation of the storm water drains
All lead involving activities to be carried out under covered sheds
Access roads to have sheds or the run off taken into ETP
Minimum movement from process areas to non process areas during rains
No vehicle movement during rains
Slopes should not permit any water logging
(* A major source of soil, surface and ground water contamination from
the lead recycling industry)
17. BMPs - Resource Conservation
Water efficient fixtures
Energy efficient fixtures
Use of treated water from ETP for all process needs
Scope for utilization
• Spent acid
• Sodium sulphate recovery from spent acid
• Slag
• Plastics
Installation of Photovoltaic solar power generation system on the roof
18. Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)
Respiratory Protection
Eye and Face Protection
Hearing Protection
Head Protection
Hand Protection
Foot Protection
PPE Training
19. Areas Needing Priority Attention for Adoption of BMPs
ULAB unloading, breaking and segregation
Collection and disposal of Spent electrolyte
Cleaning and disposal plastic waste
Scrubber operation
Disposal of Furnace slag
Decontamination Station
Strom water management
20. Useful Links
Guidelines for Environmentally Sound Recycling of Hazardous Wastes
(CPCB)
http://cpcb.nic.in/uploads/hwmd/GuidelinesforEnviron_soundRecyclingH
W2010.PDF
Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary
Movement) Rules, 2016
http://www.moef.gov.in/sites/default/files/Final%20HWM%20Rules%202
016%20%28English%29.pdf
Recycling used lead-acid batteries: health considerations (WHO)
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/259447/978924151285
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eng.pdf;jsessionid=DA331B0E5826F17246843EC1D82BBCE4?sequence=1