What to do with its batteries and batteries?

A recent study shows that on average, the French have at home 75 cells or batteries which a part is used. It is about 3 kg of batteries and accumulators stored by each french household. This practice is counter-productive since the collection makes it possible to recycle 50% to 70% of the weight of the waste.

To reduce your waste prefer rechargeable batteries instead of batteries disposable. (see article 06/19/2014 blog how to make savings on your purchases of batteries)
Rejected without precaution, batteries and accumulators can release into the environment of many dangerous compounds: acid, lead, aluminium, lithium, mercury.
Since January 1, 2001, the collection of batteries and accumulators is compulsory, regardless of their type, even if all are not classified as hazardous waste. Are considered hazardous waste:

• (mostly used as the car starter batteries) lead-acid batteries,
• batteries Nickel - cadmium (Ni-Cd), (more and more replaced the Ni-Mh batteries).
• batteries containing mercury (button cells)
• electrolyte from batteries and accumulators.

On the other hand, the batteries saline and alkaline waste are not considered as hazardous waste but is not a reason for not recycling.

Never throw batteries, batteries or accumulators in your regular trash. Use the collection points installed in over 20 000 sites in France, mainly in the retail, specialized shops, DIY stores and local communities. Thanks to the two largest companies of collection and recovery of cells and batteries, Screlec and Corepile, you will always find a bin near you.

Click here to know the nearest collection point, from our partner Corepile.

You can group your batteries and small batteries, at home, in the cube to batteries of Corepile. Let us an application by the contact form specifying the number of boxes.

At the end of a neat sort directed by Corepile, used goods are grouped into batches based on technologies. The processing centre then retrieves the metals that make up in order to reintegrate them into the production chain. The treatment of cells and small batteries collected by Corepile allows to recover about 5,000 tons of metals annually.

These metals are then reused for making objects of everyday life as of the gutters in zinc, stainless steel cutlery, with bollards, hardware, car plate, hulls of ships or new batteries (nickel) or compounds for photovoltaic panels (Cadmium).

The recycling of batteries and accumulators appealed to 4 types of processes:

THE PYROMETALLURGY

Batteries and rechargeable batteries: batteries alkaline/salt, Lithium batteries, rechargeable batteries NiCd, Li-ion, NiMH

Batteries or rechargeable batteries are introduced into a furnace. The separation of metals is achieved by a redox reaction. The fractions will be different from one factory to another and adapt to the needs of the market.

HYDROMETALLURGY

Batteries and rechargeable batteries: batteries alkaline/salines, rechargeable batteries NiCd, Li-ion

Batteries and accumulators undergo physical treatment leading to the separation of ferrous, non-ferrous compounds and paper/plastics.
The non-ferrous fraction is then subject to acid physico-chemical treatment, to separate the elements. This methodology would like its name from the use of acid liquid for treatment.

THE DISTILLATION

Batteries and rechargeable batteries: button cell batteries 

The batteries first undergo a cryogenic grinding in liquid nitrogen to prevent vaporization of mercury (coin older generation). Got amalgam will then undergo distillation. The metallic elements separated by magnetic means.

THE MERGER

Batteries and rechargeable batteries: lead-acid Batteries

The process is comparable to that of the pyrometallurgical process but gives only a matter in out of oven: lead ingots