WE RECYCLE OUR BATTERIES
Scrap Batteries arriving in Benoni for Recycling


Smelter in Benoni
Effluent Plant in Benoni

BATTERY CENTRE AND FIRST NATIONAL BATTERY:
DOING OUR BIT
Care of the environment has become extremely important in modern times. Automotive battery components, which include lead, plastic and acid are harmful to our ecology if they are not properly treated. Fortunately, most of the components of these batteries are well suited to recycling.

The company that manufactures Raylite batteries for Battery Centre - First National Battery - established a recycling facility in Benoni some years ago to help save the environment, prevent waste and to control the quality of lead being used. This facility includes a lead smelter, a battery breaker, effluent plant that treats the acid and scrubbers to control environmental emissions.

Particularly in recent years, a large number of batteries have been imported with no plan to recycle them when their life is over. As a responsible local manufacturer First National Battery actively looks for any scrap lead acid batteries (not just their own) to recycle - thus demonstrating their commitment to sound ecological management.
Recycling has become an extremely important consideration in modern business not only from the recovery of valuable materials but also from an ecological and environmental protection aspect.
An area of concern in South Africa relates to the importation of lead acid batteries. In general, importers do not have the same need to recycle their products as do local manufacturers and thus no apparent necessity for them to ensure the return of redundant batteries. Local producers are therefore much more environmentally friendly.   We ensure that so-called scrap batteries are recycled  thus displaying our social investment in the future of sound ecological management.
Scrap batteries are processed to the point where the polypropylene components are returned for cleaning, granulating and eventual re-processing. the scrap lead plates, terminals and separators are  stockpiled for refining. All electrolyte, which by the time the battery is scrapped, has a low relative  density - in fact almost 1.000 - is collected and neutralised before being processed in our effluent  plant. The flocculants are  disposed of in cake form and dumped in a Class 1 dump whilst the clean  water is  disposed of into the municipal waste system.
Some of the major benefits of having ones own smelter include:
More control over quality.
Continuity of supply.
Relatively high recovery rate of lead from scrap.
Able to re-process dross and filtered materials.
Active contribution to positive ecological benefits.
All these factors are well and good but the lead industry, more than any other, has been subject to adverse publicity regarding environmental problems and legislative pressures to solve them. Anti-pollution controls have been implemented sometimes at a very high cost. Several sets of legislation are in force including Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Water Act. Further, as the manufacturer of batteries involves lead we are required to be registered in terms of the manufacturing process and hold all the necessary permits.
Our investment in a smelter has therefore blended well with our commitment to the recycling of batteries. This in only a part of our long term capital expansion programme which, to date, has seen an improvement in production control, product quality and increased production capabilities. Further investments are planned for the next few years which will enable us to position ourselves to take advantage of the growth in the South African economy.

LEAD ACID BATTERIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
To keep microscopic particles of airborne lead emissions to a minimum, manufacturers and recyclers use high efficiency air filters and wet scrubber to filter plant air before it is released to the atmosphere. The filters are inspected and replaced regularly. The filters also are equipped with alarms, and the process is shut down or re-routed should a filter tear or break.
Manufacturers and recyclers capture and treat process water to keep lead out of streams and rivers. The water is tested before it is released to be certain it meets clean water standards.
At recycling plants, air monitors are installed at the perimeter of each property to make sure any lead in the air is below the allowable limit. The limit is 1.5 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air, averaged on a quarterly basis. Plants have a regular program of exterior vacuming or washing down paved areas and capturing and treating rainwater runoff. Vehicles that transport lead products typically are hosed down before leaving a facility so that any dust on tyres or vehicle body is not carried to public roads.
When taken together, all of these practices add up to a very responsible effort on the part of lead acid battery manufacturers and recyclers to keep even small amounts of lead out of the environment. These efforts make a measurable difference.
Lead acid batteries are the environmental success story of our time. Roughly 93% of all battery lead is recycled. Comparted to 42% of newspapers, 55% of aluminium soft drink and beer cans, and 40% of plastic soft drink bottles, lead acid batteries top the list of the most highly recycled consumer products.
The first process in recycling is the "breaking-up" of plastic and lead in old/used batteries. The lead grids, lead oxide and other lead parts are cleaned and melted together in smelting furnaces. The molten lead is poured into ingot moulds. Large ingots weighing about 1 ton are called hogs. Smaller ingots weighing 25kg are called pigs. After a few minutes the impurities otherwise known as dross, float to the top of the still molten lead in the ingot moulds. The dross is scraped away and the ingots are left to cool.
When the ingots are cool, they are removed from the moulds and sent to battery manufacturers, where they are re-melted and used in the production of new lead plates and other parts for new batteries.

Old battery acid can be handled in two ways:
The acid is neutralised with an industrial compound similar to household baking soda. This turns the acid into water. The water is treated, cleaned and tested to be sure it meets clean water standards. Then it is released into the public sewer system.
Another way to treat acid is to process it and convert it to calcium sulphate, an odourless white powder which is then dumped.

During the battery breaking process the container and lid are boken up into small pieces which are also recycled and when mixed with a small proportion of virgin material new plastic feed stock is produced and the cycle continues!

THE RECYCLING PROCESS



Batteries collected through Battery Centres and from other sources are transported to the smelter in Benoni where they are processed through a battery breaker, which separates the lead, plastic and acid.

From here the acid, which has lost much of its acidity by this time, is neutralised and processed through the effluent plant; then disposed of according to environmental regulations.

The plastic components are washed and converted into pellets to be re-used in the manufacture of new battery containers and covers at the First National Battery plastics factory at Fort Jackson.

The battery plates, terminals and other lead extracted by the battery breaker are stockpiled for refining and blending with other materials to produce the precise lead alloys required for modern battery performance. These lead ingots are then used in the manufacture of new batteries - completing one lead cycle, and beginning another to be completed many years later.

SEE THE GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF THIS CYCLE ABOVE

Each step of the process is conducted in accordance with environmental standards and the small proportion of the battery which cannot be reclaimed, is disposed of in cake form in a Class A dump.

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