2. What is a battery?
A battery is an energy storage device in which
chemical energy is converted into electricity and
used as a source of power.
Common types include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Lithium-ion
Zinc carbon (ZnCO3)
Nickel metal hydrate (NiMH)
Nickel cadmium (NiCD)
Alkaline
Lead-acid
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3. Lead-acid batteries contain potentially hazardous materials
that — if not disposed of properly — could harm the
environment.
With hundreds of millions of lead-acid batteries in
circulation, we could have been facing an environmental
nightmare; yet lead-acid battery recycling has become one
of today’s great environmental success stories.
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4. How many lead-acid batteries are out there?
33% of the world’s batteries
are of the lead-acid type
300-350 million lead-acid batteries
are produced annually
(about 1 new lead-acid battery every 11 seconds )
8,000 times higher
than Mt. Everest
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5. Lead-acid batteries are a $24.9 billion
market world wide
10% of lead-acid batteries are used for
uninterruptible power supply (UPS)
Schneider Electric purchases 44 million lbs.
of lead-acid batteries annually (20 million kg)
2x as heavy as the Eiffel Tower
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6. Lead-acid batteries are one of the great environmental
success stories
Lead-acid batteries
are the most highly recycled
consumer product
Nearly 80% of each
lead-acid battery is made
of recycled material
Consumer product recycle rates
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7. How does a lead-acid battery get recycled?
Lead plates are melted down in smelting furnaces.
Molten lead is poured into ingot molds, which are remelted in the manufacture of new plates.
Lead-acid batteries
are composed of
3 recyclable materials
Battery acid may be:
> neutralized, cleaned, treated, tested and released
into the public sewer system
> processed and converted into sodium sulfate, an
odorless white powder used in laundry
detergent, glass, and textile manufacturing
> chemically treated and reused in battery products
Plastic cases & covers are crushed, melted together,
and extruded as pellets to be used in the manufacture
of new cases & covers
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8. How does a lead-acid battery get recycled?
Find practical how-to guidance on recycling industrial
lead-acid batteries in Schneider Electric’s Data Center
VLRA Battery End-of-Life Recycling Procedures.
Download our free white paper now to learn more.
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