Battery Waste: What Is It And How Can We Fix It?

Electrical appliances or automobiles, power backup or hearing aids, batteries are the primary sources of power for most things we use today. This quite explains why India generates over 50,000 tonnes of battery waste every year. Do you know how many of these batteries end up in landfills? Almost 95%! Surprising but true, only 5% of the spent batteries are appropriately recycled. Little do we realize that batteries are hazardous waste. The lithium deposits and the toxic components in batteries like arsenic, lead, nickel, and dimethoxyethane pose severe environmental risks. Besides, did you know that India is greatly dependent on imports for its energy transition? This is certainly an economic setback.

Also, did you know that India is expected to stand out as the third-largest market for energy storage by 2040? Thus, implementing foundational battery rules is important to manage the overwhelming ratios of battery waste. Mishandling the spent batteries is threatening to the environment. For instance, batteries in landfills decay and corrode with time. Also, the chemicals in batteries leach into the soil, contaminate the groundwater, and depletes the quality of air. Hence, managing battery waste is more important than ever.

How do you define battery waste?

Battery waste refers to the umpteen spent batteries that are mindlessly trashed away in landfills. Lithium-ion or lead-acid; batteries are abundant with substances like sulphuric acid, lead, cadmium, nickel, mercury, and more that are hazardous to the environment when left exposed. In addition to the toxic environmental crises, disposing of batteries without any thought signifies a major loss of valuable natural resources.

Did you know that batteries are mostly recyclable? For example, lead-acid batteries are almost 90% recyclable. Li-ion batteries, on the other hand, are recyclable too. Unfortunately, only 5% of these batteries are optimally recycled worldwide.

Thus, while disposing of the batteries reluctantly creates a large portion of waste in the environment, recycling the batteries is a better alternative.

‍How to manage the growing ratios of battery waste?

Believe it or not, manufacturers have rarely focused on improving the recyclability of batteries. Instead, finding out ways to upscale the longevity and charge capacity of batteries has always been the primary focus. However, with tonnes of battery waste piling in landfills, it is only right to put an end to the rising battery waste. This is why the government has implemented EPR battery waste rules to manage the surge in battery waste streams.

Before delving deep, let us first elaborate on the right ways to reduce and manage battery waste.

1. Recycling

It is a no-brainer that recycling batteries have several environmental and economic benefits. To begin with, recycling lowers the count of batteries going into landfills. What’s more, recycling serves as a great way to conserve the concentration of metals like lithium and manganese, otherwise lost in end-of-life batteries. Did you know that the two common cathode metals in batteries, cobalt and nickel, are very expensive in nature? Trashing the batteries away implies a major loss of expensive and rare metals.

2. Circular economy

If there is one proven way to get a grip on effective battery waste management, it is undeniably circular economy. Circularity is a strategic effort to reduce and eliminate environmentally threatening battery waste. Wondering how is circular economy different from recycling? While recycling focuses on repurposing battery waste, circular economy is all about avoiding the creation of battery waste. Circular economy is dependent on three principles:

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle.

To strengthen the implementation of circular economy, the government, in association with environmentalists and Producer Responsibility Organizations like Karo Sambhav, has established EPR battery waste management rules. Do you know what it implies? EPR or Extended Producer Responsibility is an environmental policy that makes it obligatory for the PIBOs (Producers, Importers, and Brand Owners) to efficiently collect and channelize end-of-life batteries.

Further, EPR battery regulations encourage producers to rethink the design of batteries and use recyclables in the composition of batteries. The battery rules obligate producers and business owners to set up collection centres to collect, segregate, treat, repurpose, and recycle battery waste in a government-authorized way. As per the norms, all producers, importers, and business owners are mandatorily required to acquire battery authorization to run their businesses. Do you know why EPR is important?

EPR coerces importers, producers, and business owners to optimize the effective recycling of resources that boost the economic value of products, lower the cost of batteries, safeguard the environment, and exert less stress on the mining of virgin and natural battery materials.

Of course, complying with the EPR battery waste management rules involves several documents and a clear understanding of the rigid policies. PROs like Karo Sambhav assist businesses and producers in staying compliant with EPR battery rules and minimizing the volumes of battery waste.