The production of lead batteries is growing rapidly in Africa as the market for lead batteries expands. Global lead output continues to grow, with about 85% production going to make batteries. We conducted a study around lead battery recycling plants in Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Tunisia.
Lead-acid battery recycling currently occurs across three main types of businesses. Commonly found recyclers in Africa include: 1. Informal battery-breakers and smelters: — this type of recycling is mostly small-scale and conducted under informal conditions.
The problem is growing along with the market for lead batteries. This is due to lack of regulation and investment in environmentally sound battery recycling plants. Most facilities in Africa are small. They weren’t built with adequate pollution controls to prevent disasters and ongoing contamination.
One option is manufacturing locally on the continent. To date, the manufacturing industry for batteries in Africa is still nascent, but some manufacturers are beginning to explore the possibility of establishing the first African gigafactory. South Africa is currently taking the lead when it comes to battery manufacturing in Africa.
Companies are beginning to repurpose batteries from local electronic waste, driven by the cost of alternative EOL management options. However, repurposing only delays the inevitable need for recycling, and is not a long term solution. These are some of the challenges for the recycling of lithium-ion batteries in Africa:
One such company was Union Autoparts Mfg. Co. Ltd., West Africa’s biggest battery recycling plant and located in a country believed to dispose of over 500,000 tons of used lead acid batteries every year. However, the plant could not source enough used batteries to supply its underutilized machines.