Why is lithium-ion battery not hazardous waste?

Due to the high toxicity of heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and lead, the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued the "Technical Policy on Prevention and Control of Waste Battery Pollution" issued in 2003. Among them, for primary batteries, lithium-ion batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, etc., because environmental risks are relatively small, they are not included in hazardous waste for management.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection answered the comments of the netizens about the recycling of discarded batteries:

Netizen: Prime Minister, hello! Waste batteries such as mobile phone batteries, battery batteries, and button batteries contaminate the soil. Although China has introduced certain policies and regulations to strengthen the recycling of used batteries, the results still need to be improved, especially in the vast rural and urban suburbs. I personally don't know how to deal with used batteries. There are dozens of old batteries in the drawers in the house. It is estimated that they will eventually throw them into the trash. It is recommended that the country start with the battery manufacturer and ask it to recycle the battery and destroy it or reuse it. Manufacturers can provide corresponding supply according to the amount of used batteries recovered by retailers; the government can also appropriately reduce or exempt some of the manufacturers' taxes and fees according to relevant policies and regulations. A complete system has been built, the used batteries have been recycled, and the environment has been protected.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection replies: First, the basic requirements of waste battery environmental management the discarded mobile phone battery, battery car battery and button battery mentioned in the netizen message belong to lithium ion battery, lead acid battery and primary battery respectively.

Due to the high toxicity of heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and lead, the Waste Water Pollution Prevention Technology Policy issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2003 clearly states that waste mercury oxide batteries, waste nickel-cadmium batteries and waste lead-acid batteries are hazardous wastes and should be followed management of hazardous waste management regulations and standards. According to relevant state regulations, it is forbidden to produce and sell oxidized mercury batteries, and it is forbidden to produce and sell zinc-manganese and alkaline zinc-manganese batteries with mercury content greater than 0.025% of battery quality; from January 1, 2005, production of mercury containing more than 0.0001% will be stopped alkaline zinc-manganese battery. Therefore, at this stage, the waste batteries included in the management of hazardous waste include waste nickel-cadmium batteries and waste lead-acid batteries. For primary batteries, lithium-ion batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, etc., because environmental risks are relatively small, they are not included in hazardous waste for management.

Further promote the recycling and recycling of waste batteries

(1) Environmental management for waste primary batteries

The Waste Battery Pollution Prevention and Control Technology Policy: “The recycling of waste primary batteries shall be carried out cautiously by the recycling responsible unit. At present, in the absence of effective economic and technological conditions for effective recycling, centralized collection has been discouraged to meet national low or no mercury levels required waste primary battery."

The primary batteries (dry batteries) currently on the market have reached the national requirements for low or no mercury, and are allowed to be disposed of with domestic waste after being discarded. In recent years, our Ministry has conducted research on the pollution characteristics of used batteries through environmental protection public welfare projects. The results show that the disposal of waste primary batteries with domestic waste may cause an increase in the difficulty of treatment or additional environmental risks (such as zinc burning due to incineration). The enrichment of fly ash increases the difficulty of disposal of fly ash. Therefore, we believe that the collection and recycling of waste primary batteries has certain positive significance for the protection of the environment. We are working with the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to study and formulate the recycling policy for waste primary batteries, and promote the recycling of waste primary batteries in due course. . At the same time, our ministry is organizing the revision of the "Technical Policy on Prevention and Control of Waste Battery Pollution", which will be revised based on existing research results and development trends in the battery industry.

(2) Environmental management for waste lead storage batteries

The Waste Battery Pollution Prevention and Control Technology Policy stipulates: “The collection of waste batteries focuses on discarded rechargeable primary batteries such as nickel-cadmium batteries, hydrogen-nickel batteries, lithium-ion batteries, lead-acid batteries, and waste-type primary batteries (mercury such as silver oxide higher content)."

For lead-acid batteries, in 2013, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and other departments issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Standardized Development of Lead-Acid Batteries and Recycled Lead Industry" (hereinafter referred to as "Opinions"). In response to the recycling of waste lead-acid batteries, the Opinions clearly require the establishment of a standardized and orderly recycling system to achieve standardized production, orderly recycling and rational recycling of lead-acid batteries. By 2015, the recycling and integration of waste lead-acid batteries The utilization rate is over 90%, and the proportion of lead recycling is over 50%, which promotes the formation of a national lead resource recycling system. At the same time, the state will further regulate the recycling behavior of individual traders' waste lead-acid batteries, encourage production companies to organize the recycling of lead-acid batteries through their retail networks, and support production companies, sales companies, professional recycling companies and recycling lead companies to build recycling networks.

At the same time, the state implements fiscal and tax incentives for the recycling of waste lead-acid batteries. Since 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance have organized the construction of the “Urban Minerals” demonstration base and arranged special funds for the development of circular economy to support the demonstration base. Among them, Anhui Jieshou, Jiangsu Yinzhou, Shanxi Jitianli, etc. are all demonstration bases for recycling and recycling of lead. At the same time, the state implements a tax incentive for 50% of the value-added tax on enterprises that use recycled lead-acid batteries to produce recycled lead.

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