Lead batteries and the circular economy
Table of contents
1. Lead batteries
The main power system of ARE systems is based on the use of lead batteries. Lead batteries, widely used in the automotive and transportation industries in general, guarantee long life, low costs and excellent performance. Like all batteries, they have a life cycle that, although long, requires their replacement at a low cost.
2. Replacing and Disposing of Lead Acid Batteries
In a logic of maximum environmental sustainability, ARE and its dealers have also thought about the replacement and above all the disposal of batteries at the end of their life cycle. Our approach is to use procedures that guarantee the lowest possible environmental impact. Today, thanks to the development of new technologies, it is in fact possible to dispose of used batteries in specialized and certified centers. In this way, any environmental risk is avoided and, above all, we operate consistently with the logic of the circular economy.
3. Circular economy
The circular economy is a model of production and consumption that involves sharing, reusing, repairing, reconditioning and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. Pursuing a circular economy is, therefore, a concrete objective that, thanks to the work of specialized operators, allows for the correct recycling of all types of materials. Spent batteries are, in fact, included among recyclable materials. This guarantees the present and future sustainability of production processes.
4. Recycling and recovery
Spent batteries are taken to centers specialized in the recovery of all the materials present in the batteries themselves. Subsequently, three processing phases are carried out:
- Crushing.
- The batteries are crushed and reduced to fragments.
- The metal part is separated from the plastic and the acid.
- The plastic part is first reclaimed and returned to granules;
- then it is sent to the plastic materials production plants.
- Similarly, the acid is reclaimed and used for various purposes.
- Melting.
- The metal residues obtained from the crushing process are melted at very high temperatures (around 1,000°C).
- Special filters ensure that gaseous emissions are controlled, preventing polluting gases from spreading into the environment.
- In this phase, the lead oxides and sulphates contained in the batteries return to their metallic state.
- Refining.
- Once melted, the lead is immersed in a boiler at a temperature of between 350 and 500 °C for refining.
- At the end of the process, the pure metal is ready to be reused for any application, including the production of new batteries.
5. The lead
The recycling process allows lead to be recovered with a minimal environmental impact. Furthermore, to produce 1 kg of lead by processing the lead extracted from used batteries, much less energy is needed than to produce it by extracting the material from the environment. Lead obtained from the recycling process has the same uses and the same physical and chemical characteristics as lead that has not yet been processed. From what has been described, it is clear that recycling and recovering used batteries is important and has advantages both economically and environmentally.
6. Product life cycle
In this way the life cycle of products is extended, contributing to minimizing industrial waste.
In fact, once the product has finished its function, the materials it is made of are recovered and reintroduced into the economic cycle. In this way they can be continuously reused within the production cycle, generating further value. In view of the above, it is clear that the principles of the circular economy contrast with the traditional linear economic model based instead on the typical “extract, produce, use and throw away” scheme.
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