Support of Electric Vehicles and Charging Facilities (3)
Editor’s Note: This series are selected from manual Electric Vehicle Community Market Launch Manual: A Guide to Prepare Your Community for Electric Vehicles which was prepared by the Electric Transportation Coalition (ETC) and the Electric Vehicle Association of the Americas (EVAA) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
BATTERY RECYCLING
Ensuring environmentally responsible battery disposal is a critical EV infrastructure element. Recycling of lead-acid batteries is occurring today, and recycling capacity exists to accommodate the near-term increase of lead acid batteries from EV commercialization. According to Battery Council International, more than 95% of all battery lead has been recycled for the last five years. Forty-two states currently have legislation requiring that spent lead-acid batteries be recycled and accepted by battery retailers and/or wholesalers in exchange for new lead-acid batteries (see summary of state lead-acid battery laws in Volume III). In addition, battery recycling infrastructure for nickel-cadmium, nickel-iron, and to some degree nickel metal-hydride batteries is currently in place in the United States.
In most states, lead-acid batteries are banned from solid waste landfills. However, modified regulations have made the recycling system so accommodating that the majority of lead-acid batteries are being recycled. These regulations require retailers, wholesalers, or other authorized parties to exchange spent batteries for new batteries, but do not require these organizations to obtain a hazardous waste or storage permit. Likewise, transporters of lead-acid batteries are not required to register as hazardous waste transporters. For consumers, the process is seamless: they simply return spent batteries to the authorized retailer or wholesaler, who sends the returned batteries to a secondary lead smelter for reclamation.
Batteries presently for sale, as well as battery technologies being developed, meet the definition of hazardous waste when they are no longer useful, and are generally subject to extensive hazardous waste collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal regulations. Solid waste in the United States is regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) (see summary of RCRA in Volume III). The primary objectives of RCRA are to protect human health and the environment and to conserve valuable materials and resources. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for developing the regulations and enforcing RCRA.
Only the collection and transportation of lead-acid batteries are currently exempt from RCRA requirements, which still cover the treatment and disposal of these batteries. EPA has introduced the Universal Waste Rule (UWR), which would exempt all types of batteries from the collection and transportation requirements of RCRA. Once adopted federally, UWR would also have to be adopted by states, a process that could take several months or years. States with more stringent requirements do not have to adopt federal requirements.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), reclamation and recycling processes for mid-term batteries, as defined by the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), are partially developed. Feasibility study has shown recycling of nickel metal-hydride batteries to be cost effective.
Long-term battery technologies, as defined by USABC (including lithium-polymer batteries), are still in the research and development stage. Therefore, the recycling processes for these types of batteries cannot yet be well defined. One of the stated goals of USABC is to develop batteries that are both recyclable and nontoxic.
The following table shows the existing U.S. and Canada battery recycling facilities and the types of batteries currently being recycled:
| Battery Recycler | Location | Battery Type Recycled |
| ToxCo | British Columbia, Canada | Lithium |
| Recovery & Reclamation | Pecos, Texas | Zinc |
| GNB |
Los Angeles, California |
Lead-acid |
| RSR Quemetco, Inc. | City of Industry, California Dallas, Texas |
Lead-acid |
| Sanders Lead | Troy, Alabama | Lead-acid |
| Skuylkill Metals | Baton Rouge, Louisiana Forest City, Missouri |
Lead-acid |
| Refined Metals | Indianapolis, Indiana Memphis, Tennessee |
Lead-acid |
| The Doe Run Company | Boss, Missouri | Lead-acid |
| Kinsbursky Bros. | Anaheim, California | Lead-acid Nickel-cadmium |
| INMETCO | Pennsylvania | Nickel-cadmium Nickel-iron Nickel metal-hydride |
Battery recycling programs can be either market-based or regulated. In the market based recycling scenario, the value of the recycled materials exceeds or offsets the cost of recycling. In the regulatory scenario, recycling costs must be born, regardless of the value—or lack thereof—of the recycled materials. These costs are usually passed on to the user in the form of a disposal fee or by increasing the cost of the battery. In some cases, the government will bear the costs. While a market-based system is generally preferable as it helps reduce overall program costs, its success depends on obtaining a profitable recovery value for the recycled materials.
Encouraging the recycling of batteries at the community level involves the following:
- Supporting adoption of the Universal Waste Rule at the state and local levels
- Establishing a system of battery collection points in the community
- Determining whether battery recycling should be pursued as an alternative to other disposal methods
Communities should encourage a large number of collection points to collect the greatest number of different battery types. The techniques below have helped many communities successfully establish collections points for spent lead-acid batteries:
- Prohibiting the disposal of batteries in landfills
- Requiring a deposit when a battery is first purchased
- Relying on the materials recycled value
In some cases, a community might encourage the formation of a secondary battery market, followed by recycling when the battery is no longer deemed usable. Batteries that can no longer provide the performance needed to power a vehicle can still serve many other functions. Possible secondary uses include providing utility peak-shaving capabilities or back-up emergency power to hospitals. Encouraging a secondary market helps improve EV economics as well as ensure delivery of the maximum value from the battery before recycling.
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