
The EPA reported in 1987 that varying economics and regulatory requirements have contributed to rates of 97 percent in 1965, above 83 percent in 1980, 61 percent in 1983, and around 70 percent in 1985. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has reported lesser and varying levels of lead-acid battery recycling in the United States in earlier years, under various administrations, Republican and Democrat. Of the 13.6 billion pounds remaining after exports, 13.5 billion pounds were recycled. The Battery Council figures indicate that around 15.5 billion pounds of battery lead was consumed in the USA in that period, with a net amount of approximately 2 billion pounds battery scrap lead being exported. The report says that, after accounting for net scrap battery lead exports from the United States, 99.0% of the remaining lead from lead-acid batteries in the United States is reclaimed. Businesses that sell new car batteries may also collect used batteries (or be required to do so by law) for recycling.Ī 2019 study commissioned by battery-industry promotional group, the Battery Council, calculated battery lead recycling rates in the United States in the period 2014–2018, taking into account battery scrap lead import/export data from the Department of Commerce. This encourages recycling of old batteries instead of abandonment or disposal with household waste.

states and Canadian provinces, a refundable deposit is paid on batteries. Many cities offer battery recycling services for lead–acid batteries. The casing of a Lead–acid battery is often made of either polypropylene or ABS, which can also be recycled, although there are significant limitations on recycling plastics. Lead–acid batteries collected by an auto parts retailer for recycling. Elemental lead is toxic and should therefore be kept out of the waste stream. The lead in a lead–acid battery can be recycled. The recovered materials are used in a variety of applications, including new batteries. These are recycled by grinding them, neutralizing the acid, and separating the polymers from the lead. These can be regular lead–acid, sealed lead–acid, gel type, or absorbent glass mat batteries.

Lead-acid batteries include but are not limited to: car batteries, golf cart batteries, UPS batteries, industrial fork-lift batteries, motorcycle batteries, and commercial batteries.
LITHIUM BATTERY DISPOSAL PORTABLE
consumers recycled almost half of portable batteries bought in 2017. Zinc–carbon and Zinc–air batteries are recycled in the same process. An evaluation of consumer alkaline battery recycling in Europe showed environmental benefit but at significant expense over disposal.

Consumer disposal guidelines vary by region. Disposable alkaline batteries make up the vast majority of consumer battery use, but there is currently no cost-neutral recycling option. Rechargeable nickel–cadmium (Ni-Cd), nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH), lithium-ion (Li-ion) and nickel–zinc (Ni-Zn), can also be recycled. However, some batteries are recycled more readily than others, such as lead–acid automotive batteries (nearly 90% are recycled) and button cells (because of the value and toxicity of their chemicals). Batteries contain a number of heavy metals and toxic chemicals and disposing of them by the same process as regular household waste has raised concerns over soil contamination and water pollution. Battery recycling is a recycling activity that aims to reduce the number of batteries being disposed as municipal solid waste.
