The discharge of other pollutants of odor pollutants and environmental noise by battery manufacturing enterprises shall observe corresponding applicable national pollution discharge standards, and the identification, treatment and disposal of solid wastes hence generated shall observe applicable national standards on solid waste pollution control.
It was the first special policy for the prevention and control of waste battery pollution which was issued by the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP).
The environmental impact of battery emerging contaminants has not yet been thoroughly explored by research. Parallel to the challenging regulatory landscape of battery recycling, the lack of adequate nanomaterial risk assessment has impaired the regulation of their inclusion at a product level.
In China, the technical policy for pollution control on waste battery, published on 9 October, 2003, is the first law or regulation especially for waste batteries.
The full impact of novel battery compounds on the environment is still uncertain and could cause further hindrances in recycling and containment efforts. Currently, only a handful of countries are able to recycle mass-produced lithium batteries, accounting for only 5% of the total waste of the total more than 345,000 tons in 2018.
While spent batteries possess a resource value, they pose an environmental hazard at the same time. Since the start of development to recycle spent LIBs in 1990s, important contributions have been made and a number of achievements have been accomplished by scholars globally.