DID YOU KNOW 98 PER CENT OF A LEAD ACID BATTERY IS RECYCLABLE?

More than 500,000 scrap lead-acid batteries are safely recycled in New Zealand each year through a series of carefully planned steps.

The first step was to set up a national collection scheme for scrap lead acid batteries. This had to be efficient and give New Zealand-wide coverage. Battery manufacturer Exide Technologies has entered into an arrangement with Dominion Trading Co of Christchurch to collect and safely deliver scrap batteries to the Exide Technologies Recycling Centre in Petone.

In the Centre, the bottom of the scrap battery is cut by a mechanical saw, allowing the sulphuric acid and any lead suspended in the acid to be drained off. The battery is then fed into a hammer mill for crushing.

Once crushed, the remaining components are floated off through a series of flotation ponds. The plastic pieces of the battery case, each by now no larger than a fifty cent coin are re-granulated into plastic which is used to manufacture the next generation of battery cases.

Next, the remaining two components of the scrap battery - lead and lead oxide - are fed into a rotary furnace along with lead dross, sludge and coke and other additives used to assist in the removal of impurities from the lead. This mixture is smelted for about seven hours at temperatures of approximately 500 degrees Celsius.

The molten lead is poured off into a holding kettle and then transferred into refining pots where the final impurities and dross are removed. Lead with a purity of 99.97 per cent is capable of being made, however sometimes, antimony or calcium is added to the lead to make alloys. Various grades of lead alloy are made, depending on the manufacturing end use.

The refined lead is used to manufacture new generation batteries at the Exide Technologies factory nearby in Gracefield, Lower Hutt.

Lead acid batteries are crucial to life in the modern world. They are essential to transport and communication systems, electrical utilities and often provide life-saving backup during power failures.

Many people don¡¯t realise how important lead-acid batteries are because they so often can¡¯t be seen. Batteries are commonly out of sight and so, out of mind.

People take for granted that their telephones, for example, will work during electrical storms and power outages. This is because telecommunication systems are backed-up by battery power. Lead acid batteries maintain emergency power for computer systems and critical operations such as air traffic control, rail crossings, and hospitals. Civil Defence communications during natural disasters sometimes rely heavily on battery power.

Electric wheelchairs are powered by batteries as are electric forklifts and industrial vehicles in warehouses, distribution centres, mines and other enclosed spaces where fumes from combustion engines would be hazardous. Without these powerful workhorses, life as we know it could be very difficult and different.

Lead acid batteries, while developed in the late 19th century, look likely to be a crucial power source well into the 21st century. Inventors are striving for economic battery-power alternatives to oil and gas fuels.

When Gaston Plante invented the lead acid battery, he could not have envisaged the role his invention would play a century later.

The value of lead has been known for centuries.

Lead products formed part of the Ancient world¡¯s wonders, from lead-glazed mosaic tiles, to stained glass windows and the hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Lead roofing and flashing has been used in Europe for years because of its low maintenance, resistance to corrosion, ease of installation and its beauty. St Paul¡¯s Cathedral in London was built with a lead roof in the 17th century and it has never required re-roofing. Lead is renowned for its resistance to moisture. Power companies sheathe underground electric cables with lead to protect against dampness.

Lead alloys are used for X-ray and radiotherapy shields for cancer patients. It is essential in television screens and computer monitors because lead compounds can block radiation without affecting screen quality. Lead is used to provide top quality sound proofing in some of the world¡¯s best hotels. It is also used to protect against high altitude radiation in commercial aircraft.

Lead¡¯s future also looks promising. The first lead based computer chips have been developed to retain data when the power is switched off and lead shock dampers are now used for earthquake damage prevention, including at Te Papa museum in Wellington.

The recycling of lead-acid batteries is an environmental and health success story.

More than 98 per cent of a lead acid batteries can be recycled, making them the most recycled of any consumer product. New generation lead acid batteries can be made from 100 per cent recycled lead and from up to 90 per cent recycled plastic.

When lead acid batteries are improperly disposed of, the acid inside them can leach into soil and waterways causing serious contamination.

Recycling lead acid batteries safely means a lot less lead gets into the environment and therefore, health risks are much reduced.

Old battery lead is being given new life in a strictly controlled recycling centre at Petone by Exide Technologies, a company committed to environmental health standards.

As a responsible battery manufacturer, Exide Technologies is committed to ensuring the majority of used lead-acid batteries are recycled.

More than 600,000 replacement automotive batteries are sold in New Zealand each year. Currently around 500,000 of these are recycled by Exide.

Recent recycling projects with battery resellers and service clubs across the country has uncovered a large number of used lead-acid batteries lying around in peoples¡¯ garages and on farmland. Given time these old batteries can cause significant damage to the environment and to peoples¡¯ health.

Exide Technologies is keen to find the remaining 100,000 or so lead-acid batteries that are not presently recycled each year to safeguard against any environmental damage they may cause.

The company operates five lead-acid battery recycling plants worldwide, four in the United States and one here at Petone in New Zealand which they consider to be world class. More than $4 million has been spent over the last five years on environmental upgrades and expansion to the Recycling Centre.

The plant¡¯s recycling capacity has been doubled, along with the installation of a state-of-the-art air filtration system.

Further upgrade plans are on the drawing board. Exide Technologies is pro-active in its care for the environment.

The company believes strongly in moving with technological improvements and is committed to continuing its local involvement on providing "cradle to grave" management of its products.