The Best Company to Recycle Scrap Lead-Acid Batteries
The Best Company to Recycle Scrap Lead-Acid Batteries
If you have a used lead-acid battery, there are a few ways to safely dispose of it. Recyclers with a pile of scrap lead-acid batteries generally start to research the best company to recycle scrap lead-acid batteries.
Consumers and companies recycle lead-acid batteries more than any other batteries. Consumers primarily use them in buses, golf carts, and boats. Lead-acid batteries are very reliable as a backup or auxiliary power as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) in: data centers, telecommunication, and hospitals.
Battery manufacturers produce several types of batteries in use today. Therefore, different recycling processes are available for each to recover and recycle the materials.
Interco recycles batteries of all shapes, sizes, and chemistry. The recycling process of lead-acid batteries is vital because eventually these batteries reach end-of-life status or become obsolete and must be disposed of.
Car batteries, which are lead-acid type batteries cannot be disposed of in incinerators or landfills because they are too toxic.
Where is the Best Company to Recycle Scrap Lead-Acid Batteries?
Lead-acid batteries are banned from landfills and incinerators in every state because of their toxicity levels. Even though environmentally unfriendly, lead-acid batteries continue to hold a strong market niche, especially as a starter battery.
Besides, lead-acid batteries are the main source of lead scrap for recycling, accounting for nearly 90% of the total lead scrap available for recycling.
Interco is considered the best company to recycle scrap lead-acid batteries.
Depending on the content – whether it’s metallic, plastic, or chemical – recycling at different stages of the production cycle often determines whether recycling is feasible or not. The team at Interco continues to lead the way in terms of innovative industrial recycling solutions.
How to Safely Dispose of Scrap Lead-Acid Batteries
The act of recycling used lead-acid auto batteries should be performed with the appropriate safety precautions, preferably in a controlled environment far from residential areas. Here’s how to recycle lead-acid batteries
- First, recycling companies collect expired or used lead-acid auto batteries for battery depositories.
- The recycling company then neutralizes the acids. They introduce a base that subdues the corrosive properties (toxicity) of the acid so it can be safely disposed of.
- A hammer mill shatters the battery or breaks it apart. Recyclers refer to this process as hammering.
- Then, place broken pieces in a vat, so that the lead plates and heavy materials sink to the bottom while the plastic floats.
- They transport the polypropylene plastics into a plastic recycler to melt and refine them.
- Then, the process goes to clean the lead plates and heat them in furnaces, so they melt. After this, cast the molten lead into an ingot mold. After a few moments, the impurities float to the top of the cast, and they scrape them away.
- Finally, they re-melt the pure ingot casts and use them in new batteries.
Recycling used lead-acid batteries is important because of the nature of their composition and use.
In fact, there are two types of lead-acid batteries that are recycled. These batteries include deep-cycle batteries and starting batteries.
- A starting battery, like the name implies, provides the power to start an engine.
- A deep-cycle battery delivers a continual low level of power to keep an engine running.
Today more than 97 percent of these batteries are recycled in the U.S. Consequently, Interco recycles lead-acid batteries primarily for their lead content.
Interco is the Best Company to Recycle Scrap Lead-Acid Batteries
In summary, lead-acid battery recycling is vital. Consequently, it enables recyclers to recover valuable metals and reduces the harmful effects on the environment that improper disposal causes. In fact, Interco recycles lead-acid batteries primarily for their lead content. The remarkable Interco facility is comprised of five buildings — approximately 400,000 square feet total — on more than 35 acres. Interco works with dealers and industrial partners throughout North America as well as Central and South America. Interco buys lead-acid batteries to recycle them safely. Learn more about recycling lead-acid batteries here.