BATTERY RECYCLING IN BRAZIL – IMPORTANCE AND CHALLENGES

ARNOLFO MENEZES COELHO

Firstly, I would like to thank for the invitation to participate in this 50th commemorative edition, it is an honor to receive and respond to this invitation, it will be a pleasure to talk about the requested topics.

I have a degree in Chemical Engineering, I started my professional career at the age of 21 working in the quality area at a metal packaging company in Recife-PE (Brazil). At the age of 23 I was hired by Baterias Moura as a Process Engineer and for more than 22 years I developed my career within the Group. I went through different roles, Engineer, Head of Production, Recycling Plant Manager and, for the last 12 years, as Director of Metals and Sustainability.

In this department, I was responsible for the acquisition of metallic raw materials, lead, tin and other metals used in the composition of lead alloys, also responsible for the industrial operation of battery scrap recycling and for the corporate areas of environment, industrial safety, social responsibility, energy inputs and business sustainability strategies.

During this period, I took on several challenges at the Moura Group, such as: reducing operational costs in lead recycling, gaining financial and operational productivity, reducing the cost of purchasing raw materials, reducing work accidents, reducing lead in the blood, improving environmental indicators, strategies for relations with local communities and cost reduction and efficiency gains in energy inputs.

Moura also opened me up several possibilities for knowledge. In addition to learning about management systems, I visited recycling operations and battery factories in several countries in different continents. For the last 2 years, I have worked as an independent consultant, helping companies in the technical area of lead recycling, in this segment I am also the Latin American representative for Engitec Technologies, an Italian company manufacturing recycling equipment. I work in the implementation of Industrial Management Systems, supporting companies in Business Strategies and also implementing and participating as a member of Boards of Directors.

During my professional career, I also had the opportunity to take several courses, I received a master's degree in Competitiveness Management from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) and MBA's in Financial and Budgetary Management, Industrial Processes, People Management, Occupational Safety and Business Management.

The Importance of Battery Recycling

As everyone knows, resources on the planet are limited and with population growth and improved quality of life, the need for consumption increases global demand. Therefore, recycling products is essential to reduce the exploitation of raw materials of primary origin.

In this sense and according to the Battery Council International (BCI), lead is the most recycled product in the world and in the USA it reaches a 99% recycling rate. It is impressive when compared to other products. This is mainly due to the use of this raw material in an already developed chain, 85% of lead has been used as the main raw material in the production of lead acid batteries for more than 100 years. The development time of a chain, the implications of growth in global demand and the consequent increase in primary metal prices, have made this sector in the world a reference in reverse logistics, from the robust system for capturing post-consumer product to a large capacity for recycling.

Furthermore, in the used battery recycling process we also have the reuse of the other components being used in the same chain, the polypropylene applied primarily in the production of new boxes and lids and the acid solution used in the production process of new batteries and in other applications. Therefore, around 80% of new lead acid batteries in the Western world are composed of recycled raw materials.

Brazil and Reverse Logistics

Brazilian legislation 12.305/2010, which establishes the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS), defines that the product's life cycle and the consequent management of the waste generated at the end of this process become a shared responsibility, with specific roles and attributions for the public service, manufacturers, importers, distributors, traders and even for the consumer. Thus, all sectors were forced to develop reverse logistics systems. The first managing entity in Brazil for the lead acid battery sector was the Brazilian Institute of Recyclable Energy (IBER), in which I participated, from the creation of the entity to the design of the system, I was even the first president of the Institute.

To ensure compliance with this legislation, it is necessary to create processes that effectively prove that the post-consumer product is being captured and disposed of in an environmentally appropriate manner. This process, in terms of information/data, makes Brazil a reference when compared to the rest of the world.

In Brazil we have an excess of recycling capacity, currently I estimate that we use around 70% of total capacity, so we have the capacity to recycle 100% of the batteries produced, in addition to there being some ongoing projects that will expand this capacity in the Northeast, Southeast and South. The big problem we have are the environmental aspects, most of our operations leave something to be desired when compared to developed countries, despite the great progress we have made in Brazil in the last 25 years. We know that the metals contained in batteries are metals that can seriously affect the environment and human health. Environmental aspects are the biggest challenges for both the recycling and battery manufacturing sectors in the world.

The Environmental Challenge in Recycling

When talking about environmental and occupational legislation related to the use of lead, we have two fronts of legislative changes, in the USA, specifically in the state of California and the European Union (EU). There are currently negotiations in the EU that are addressing aspects of occupational hygiene, lead in indoor air and lead in blood, with new “targets” that are extremely lower than current legislation. There are even discussions in Germany that it will be impossible for some industries/sectors to comply with legislation, such as musical instrument legislation, which uses lead to improve the sound of instruments.

These are numbers that will require improvements in equipment, collective protection systems and changes in employee behavior to achieve. It is known that there are some metallurgical companies in the world that are in the process or have already managed to reach similar numbers, but it is work with large investments and, most importantly, an intense focus on changing the organizational culture. This environmental crunch is already, and will continue to be, one of the biggest challenges for the lead recycling and lead acid battery manufacturing industry.

Challenges in the recycling operation

Thinking about operational aspects, I particularly believe that operating costs and improving product quality are the most relevant, after environmental aspects.

We take quality lead alloys and pure lead as an important item. The new demands of a high-cycling battery, EFB, AGM and battery for energy storage systems require a special quality of lead, this is essential to meet the demands of water consumption and other aspects of the product, hence lead refining tends to be increasingly complex and costlier.

When we look generally at metallurgy operations in the world, we see that there are great opportunities for cost reduction in metallurgy operations. The elimination of operational losses, when identified, are of great importance in reducing operational costs. The most important thing is to have a good management system that guarantees the identification and treatment of these losses. For example, aspects of the use of energy inputs are known. It is known that fuels and energy correspond to approximately 25% of the operational cost, and therefore efficiency gains are fundamental in the search for operational efficiency. This management of energy inputs also reduces the generation of carbon monoxide, which, with the creation of the regulated carbon market and sectoral targets, can affect the profitability of operations. The long-term trend is for emissions to be priced and charged to manufacturers. An extremely important topic to place the organization on another level of governance, this is a complex topic that required another opportunity to talk about aspects of Organizational Sustainability.

Returning to the environmental aspects, which affect operational costs, there is an important point which is the generation of waste. As we know, one of the critical issues in the lead recycling industry is slag generation. Today, in developed countries, it is difficult to approve operations without the desulfurization process, where the lead sulfate contained in the used battery paste/oxide is treated before going to the ovens. This process reduces the generation of slag by approximately 70%, generating another residue that can be used as raw material in other industries. Another important point is the need for negative pressure operations in industrial warehouses, with the aim of eliminating fugitive emissions. I believe that these trends should also be required in Brazil.

Recycling Lithium Batteries

The first time I saw a Li recycling factory was in the mid-2000s, the process was very manual, and the metals were separated to be used in industries in other sectors. Recycling technology has evolved quickly, we have much more automated processes and a better level of separation of Li battery components. As we all know, the development times for new processes and new technologies have reduced, so I believe that within a decade we will have competitive processes for recycling these batteries.

An important factor that should lead to faster development is new legislation. There are currently negotiations in Europe for a new regulation regarding cells and batteries, the focus will be on regulating the recycling of Li batteries, but they should have implications for all types of batteries, including lead-acid. They are discussing topics such as: restrictions on dangerous substances, carbon footprint, treatment and recycling, recycled content and recycling efficiency. These discussions are focused on generating more robust recycling and conditions for reusing recycled material in the same chain. Despite being impacted by these possible changes, I believe that this process should be good for the lead industry, as its production chain and processes are well developed, unlike lithium batteries.

An important aspect to analyze would be the impact of the growth of lithium batteries on the price of lead. As the growth of electric vehicles limits the growth in the volume of lead moved on the global market and as primary lead has a great association with Zinc, that is, lead concentrate will be available, this could impact the price of the lead commodity in the future. An important factor that can help in this equation is the advancement in the area of energy storage, in which lead batteries can be competitive, but the uncertainties in these markets do not yet allow us to make realistic predictions. I mention this because I started at a time when the LME for lead was in the range of 450 dollars per ton, which made the business of recycling lead acid batteries quite difficult.

Thank you again for the invitation and congratulations on the 50th edition.