the sustainability credentials of lead - home | ila files/international... · alistair j. davidson...

World of Metallurgy – ERZMETALL 68 (2015) No. 4 233

Alistair J. Davidson et al.: The Sustainability Credentials of Lead

1 Introduction – The lead industry

In recent times global lead production has risen from 5 million tonnes per annum in the 1970s to 11 million tonnes in 2014 [2] primarily due to the increase in de-mand for lead-based batteries. Lead batteries are the

The Sustainability Credentials of LeadAlistair J. Davidson, Stephen P. Binks, Andrew M. Bush

By 2100 the United Nations expects the global popula-tion to have increased to 10 billion from 7 billion today. Society’s challenge is to provide not only basic needs, but to meet expectations for an improved quality of life. How-ever, this socio-economic progress must be achieved in a manner that ensures the environment remains ecologi-cally and economically viable and able to meet the needs of future generations. This paper highlights the evidence that lead based batteries in particular should be seen as a solution to some of these societal sustainability challenges. However, lead is a hazardous substance so this will only be recognised if sound chemical management and respon-sible care is adopted by all players in the value chain of the product. Moreover to be truly sustainable lead based

products must continue to innovate to meet the future needs of customers. As the global trade association for the lead industry, the International Lead Association (ILA) [1] is taking a leading role in both encouraging continuous improvement in the management of lead and ensuring there is a greater recognition of the many benefits that lead offers to society. This paper discusses the benefits and environmental sustainability credentials that lead and lead batteries bring to society.

Keywords:

Lead – Lead-based batteries – Lead sheet – Sustainability – Closed loop – Recycling – Life cycle assessment

Die Nachhaltigkeitsnachweise von Blei

Preuve de la soutenabilité du plomb

Los credenciales de sostenibilidad de plomo

Paper presented on the occasion of the European Metallurgical Conference EMC 2015, June 14 to 17, 2015, in Düssel-dorf, Germany.

This is a peer-reviewed article.

mainstay of global storage technologies for renewable en-ergy sources, such as solar cell and wind turbines and are used to power virtually all cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes, electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles. Furthermore, lead batteries are vital as a back-up emergency power supply in case of mains power failure in hospitals, telephone ex-

Schlüsselwörter:

Blei – Bleibatterien – Bleiplatten – Nachhaltigkeit – Ge-schlossenener Kreislauf – Recycling – Lebenszyklusanalyse

Die Vereinten Nationen gehen davon aus, dass die Welt-bevölkerung bis zum Jahr 2100 von derzeit 7 Milliarden auf 10 Milliarden Menschen wachsen wird. Die Heraus-forderung an die Gesellschaft besteht darin, nicht nur die Grundbedürfnisse zu erfüllen, sondern auch den Ansprü-chen an eine bessere Lebensqualität Rechnung zu tragen. Allerdings muss dieser sozioökonomische Fortschritt so erzielt werden, dass es für die Umwelt sowohl ökologisch als auch ökonomisch tragbar ist und die Bedürfnisse zu-künftiger Generationen berücksichtigt. In diesem Artikel wird erläutert, dass insbesondere Bleibatterien die Lö-sung zu einigen dieser gesellschaftlichen Herausforderun-gen an die Nachhaltigkeit darstellen. Allerdings ist Blei eine toxische Substanz, und dementsprechend wird dies nur dann akzeptiert werden, wenn alle Beteiligten über die gesamte Wertschöpfungskette hinweg solides chemi-

sches Management und verantwortungsbewussten Um-gang zeigen. Außerdem müssen Produkte auf Bleibasis, um wirklich nachhaltig zu sein, weiter entwickelt werden, um den zukünftigen Bedürfnissen der Verbraucher gerecht zu werden. Die weltweite Handelsorganisation der Blei-industrie, die International Lead Association (ILA) [1], übernimmt eine Führungsrolle sowohl bei der Anregung zu weiteren Verbesserungen im Umgang mit Blei als auch bei der Wahrnehmung der Vorzüge von Blei seitens der Gesellschaft. Dieser Artikel beschreibt die Vorteile sowie die Möglichkeiten der Nachhaltigkeit, die Blei und Blei-batterien der Gesellschaft bieten.

World of Metallurgy – ERZMETALL 68 (2015) No. 4234


changes, mobile phone networks, public buildings and for the emergency services.

The global demand for automotive and industrial batteries has changed significantly over the years. Figure 1 identifies the end uses of lead in 1960 compared with today. The increasing use of refined lead metal in battery production can clearly be seen, and today use of lead in batteries ac-counts for more than 90 % of the entire lead market (ca. 10 · 106 t). An eight fold growth rate between 1970 and 2014, corresponds to the increase in the number of automobiles worldwide. Automotive batteries for starting, lighting and ignition (SLI), and traction batteries/stationary batteries (used for standby and emergency power supply) account for approximately 75 % and 25 % of total battery lead consumption, respectively.

2 Sustainable lead production

This section focusses on the sustainable production of lead metal. Lead metal can either be produced from ore through mining and primary production, or recycled from end of life products (mostly lead batteries and lead sheet) to produce secondary lead. Currently 54 % of global lead production comes from secondary sources [2]. This makes lead unusual amongst metals, as it is only one of three metals to have more production originating from secondary production (others are Nb and Ru) than from primary production. In 2014, 100 % of USA lead production, and 75 % of European lead production originated from recycled material [2].

Scientific evidence and rational economic theories have repeatedly shown recycling to be the most critical and ef-ficient pathway to sustainable human development. Lead metal and lead products such as lead based batteries can be recycled to generate lead metal with exactly the same properties as the metal used to manufacture the product. This process can be performed again and again indefinite-ly; in metallic materials the atomic structure allows for repeated liquefaction and solidification through heating

and cooling. The recycling of lead has large economic and environmental benefits compared to the creation of virgin material. As the secondary material recycled from used batteries is of the same quality as that produced from pri-mary production, less raw material needs to be extracted from supplies in the ground.

Lead enjoys one of the highest recycling rates of all materi-als in common use today. This is a result of its fundamental properties, good design and the ways in which it is used, which make lead based products easily identifiable and economic to collect and recycle. For example, in Europe and North America, the collection and recycling rates as-sociated with lead batteries is over 99 %. This is discussed further in section 3.

2.1 LCA studies

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of the tools that is increasingly being used to examine the environmental im-pact of a product through its entire life cycle. For metals, a typical “cradle to grave” LCA study covers the mining and extraction of raw materials, their fabrication, use, and recycling/disposal, and includes energy and transportation considerations and all the other product supplies required. The data and conclusions gained from these studies are vi-tal in assessing the environmental performance of products and services and as such are a good measure of sustainable production and use.

A number of previous studies has been conducted as-sessing the environmental impact of lead production and that of lead products such as lead-based batteries. Many of these were based on outdated information or data ob-tained from technologies no longer in use in the lead in-dustry [3]. New lifecycle studies were therefore initiated to ensure up to date and robust data is publically and widely available for primary (sourced from lead containing ores and concentrates) and secondary (sourced from recycled scrap) lead production for lead-based batteries.

Fig. 1: Global applications of lead from 1960 to 2014 – the use of lead based batteries has increased significant-ly over time, and now account for ca. 90 % of the use of refined lead metal

0,0

2.000,0

4.000,0

6.000,0

8.000,0

10.000,0

12.000,0

14.000,0

1960

1964

1968

1972

1976

1980

1984

1988

1992

1996

2000

2005

2009

2013

Lead

Use

('00

0 to

nnes

)

Year

Batteries

Cable Sheathing

Rolled and Extruded ProductsShot/Ammunition

Alloys

Pigments and Other CompoundsGasoline AdditivesMiscellaneous



In 2013 ILA, in conjunction with PE International (now thinkstep), published a European Life Cycle Inventory study of primary and secondary lead production, with the aim of providing reliable and robust Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data to the market. The existing LCI data did not reflect the current status in terms of:

• energy efficiency of smelting,• data availability,• geographical coverage and• representation in terms of EU-27 production capacity.

The LCA study was conducted according to the require-ments of the International Standard Organization ISO 14040 [4] and ISO 14044 [5] to withstand the critical review. The data is now available in the European Life Cycle Da-tabase (ELCD) [6], the Gabi Database [7] and through the International Lead Association Website [8]. In the study, site-specific data representative of current technologies used in the Lead industry for the reference year 2008/2009 were collected and analysed. The smelting technologies considered in the study are highlighted in darker blue in Table 1. Unfortunately the whole range of production pro-cesses available were not evaluated, as not all European lead producing companies participated in the study. How-ever, these three technologies represent over 80 % of the technology in use on the EU27 market.Table 1: Furnace technologies used for smelting in the lead industry (sections

in darker blue indicate furnaces covered by ILA LCI study)

Technology Acronym

Blast Furnace BF

QSL Process QSL

Rotary Furnace RR

Top Submerged Lancing TSL

Continuous flash smelting CF

Top Blown Rotary Converter TBRC

In the study a horizontal averaging methodology (where each process in the production route was averaged across all participating companies) was chosen to be able to benchmark between company specific processes and the calculated average.

For secondary lead production the process shown in Fig-ure 2 was chosen.

The functional unit, which enables the system inputs/out-puts to be quantified and assed, was selected as 1 kg of refined lead (99.99 %) at gate. Mass allocation procedures were applied similar to those applied in the zinc world study of the IZA [9]. The primary and secondary metal co-products that occur in the considered system bound-aries are:

• copper matte,• zinc,• silver,• lead alloys (PbCa, PbCu, PbSb, PbSn, PbZn, …).

2.2 Results and interpretation – lead production LCI

An overview over the main results for the impact catego-ries considered in the study is shown in Table 2.

The main contributors to all impact categories are “mining and concentrate” and “smelting”. This can be seen in terms of Global Warming Potential in Figure 3.

Fig. 2: Process flows for secondary lead production LCI

Batteries collection

Transport

Acid removal

Preparation

Furnace

Refining

Auxiliaries

Fuels

Country specific power grids

Upstream LCI data

Lead

pro

duc

tion

pro

cess

dat

a

Fig. 3: Cradle to gate results for lead pro-duction LCI in terms of Global Warming Potential



The source of the Greenhouse Gas emissions is shown in Figure 4. Direct emissions from smelting and indirect GHG emissions from power generation are the main con-tributors to the total GWP. Oxygen and coal production contribute only negligibly to the GWP. The gas treatment phase refers to all those emissions which could not be as-signed to the different processes.

2.3 Conclusion – lead production LCI

The results of the cradle to gate study show that the mining and concentration for the production of one kg of refined lead is one of the bigger contributors to the total impact of lead production besides smelting. This is the case for all impact categories. The main contributors in mining and concentration are the fuel combustion and power produc-tion. The use of explosives in mining also has a high impact on the eutrophication potential.

The main limitation of this study in terms of representative-ness was the number of participant companies in the study. Only 32 % of ILA member companies participated in the LCA project. A commitment of over 75 % of the member companies would be a better representative dataset for the entire lead industry in Europe, and this data is expected to be updated in the near future. The data generated though the lead production LCI project was used as an input to the LCA studies conducted on lead batteries discussed in section 3.

2.4 Environmental emissions and workplace exposure to lead

Lead is a hazardous substance therefore an assessment of sustainable production must consider impacts of lead ex-

posure in the workplace and to the general population. In the developed world emissions from manufacturing facil-ities and occupational exposures to workers continue to fall dramatically. This is exemplified by the situation in the USA where since the National Ambient Air Quality Stan-dard (NAAQS) was reduced to 0.15 µg/m3 (3 month rolling average) in 2008, emissions of lead from secondary lead facilities fell by almost 70 %. Measurements taken by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from a network of monitors have shown an 87 % decrease in ambient air levels between 1990 and 2013 in the USA [10] as seen in Figure 5.

This dramatic fall in atmospheric lead levels is mirrored in the lead in blood measured in children. In the USA approximately 8 % of children tested had a blood lead ex-ceeding 10 µg/dL in 1996 that had fallen to near 0.5 % by 2013. In fact the geometric mean blood lead in children in this region had fallen to 0.97 µg/dL by 2012 [11]. It should be pointed out that current emissions from lead producing and using industries make a very small contribution to lead levels found in children today, with the majority of the lead in blood coming from other sources such as legacy issues with paint, secondary exposure via water and food and oth-er emission sources such as power plants and even airports.

In terms of occupational or workplace exposure to lead, trends in the developed world also show significant reduc-tions and a recent survey of blood lead levels in employees working in primary and secondary smelters of ILA mem-ber companies demonstrated an average blood lead of 16 µg/dL, a level that is below levels that were the norm for the general public in the 1970’s.

Whilst good progress has been made, given the hazardous properties of lead, it is important that companies do not stop at compliance with laws and instead continue to im-prove their environmental, health and safety performance to minimise exposures to employees and the general pop-ulation.

In addition it has to be acknowledged that the significant improvements in the environmentally sound management of lead seen in North America and Europe is not always reflected in the developing world, and in some regions the management of lead remains a significant challenge in respect of both the general population and the workplace. This is discussed further in section 4.

Table 2: Impact categories analyses in lead production LCI, and associ-ated values

Impact category Value

Primary Energy Demand [MJ] 18.5

Global Warming [kg CO2 eq.] 1.31

Acidification [kg SO2 eq.] 0.01

Eutrophication [kg PO4 eq.] 5.61E–4

Photo oxidant formation [kg ethene eq.] 4.73E–4

Fig. 4: Cradle to gate results for lead production LCI in terms of source of Global Warming Potential

Fig. 5: Lead air quality, 1990-2013 – USA (annual maximum 3-month average; national trend based on 27 sites)



3 Sustainable products – lead batteries

As explained, the major use of lead is the lead battery, accounting for over 90 % of refined lead use. Lead bat-teries are the mainstay of global storage technologies for renewable energy sources, such as solar cell and wind tur-bines and are used to power virtually all cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes, electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles. Further-more, lead batteries are vital as a back-up emergency pow-er supply in case of mains power failure in hospitals, tele-phone exchanges, mobile phone networks, public buildings and for the emergency services.

Lead batteries make a vital contribution to society, meeting basic needs through the use of lead batteries in SLI (starter lighter ignition) application’s in all vehicles, as back up bat-teries for hospitals and emergency services, and as energy storage in locations without mains electricity can be crucial for many communities.

The lead battery industry is also constantly innovating and designing improved battery design for new and current applications. For example in the past automotive batteries were required to provide essential power for starting the engine, a reserve of energy in case of problems with the alternator and for key-off loads when parked. The intro-duction of HEVs (micro and mild-hybrid vehicles) sys-tems has put additional demands on lead batteries and has required improved functionality. Advanced lead batteries are now widely used in these micro-hybrid applications providing start-stop functionality which allows the inter-nal combustion engine to automatically shut down under braking and rest and then to restart. In addition, some mild-HEVs will use a lead battery to provide start-stop functionality in combination with regenerative braking (a system to recover and restore energy from braking), and other micro-hybrid features. The use of lead batteries in these applications result in significant CO2 savings over the lifetime of the vehicle – this is explained further in the section on the lead battery LCA.

In addition, a new category of micro/mild hybrid is current-ly under development by many of the vehicle manufac-turers, which utilise lead carbon batteries. In this category a dual low voltage system is being proposed at 12 V for the traditional hotel loads and a nominal 48 V primary battery for the regenerative circuit which will allow elec-trical engine assist and various other functionalities, for instance driving other heavy power users such as pumps and air-conditioning. In essence, the use of a 48 V battery, will mean that engine size can be down whilst keeping the same performance and driving enjoyment. This will trans-late into significant fuel and CO2 savings.

Significant advances have also been made with regard to lead battery use in energy storage applications. For exam-ple, opportunities with expansion of renewable energy such wind energy, solar energy and tidal energy. Most renewable energy sources are intermittent and unpredictable/unreli-able, which makes advanced lead batteries very attractive as they are able to meet the requirements needed in such applications. Furthermore, advanced lead batteries are also

used on a small local scale e.g. to store surplus energy for isolated communities and to deliver it when needed.

3.1 Recycling

As already mentioned, the collection and recycling of lead batteries is an efficient and cost-effective process that oper-ates in a well-established infrastructure. The economies of lead battery recycling, where virtually all the materials are recovered and reused at the end of life in a straightforward production process, means that very high rates of collection and recycling of lead-based batteries are realised.

In 2007 the Fraunhofer ICI published an end-of-life recycling rate for lead-based batteries of greater than 95 %. However, this study was based solely on German data, and extrapolat-ed to obtain a European wide figure for end-of-life recycling.

In order to get a more accurate figure for Europe as a whole, consultants IHS, on behalf of EUROBAT, Inter-national Lead Association, European Automobile Man-ufacturers Association, Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, and Korea Automobile Manufacturers Asso-ciation, have recently performed a study aimed at assessing the collection and recycling rates for European lead-based automotive batteries. This study reported the collection and recycling rate of automotive lead-based batteries in Europe to be 99 % over the period 2010-2012. The report also states that the remaining 1 % represents the statistical error of the approach and/or movement of stored batteries and batteries with longer lifetimes than estimated in this study rather than batteries being landfilled or incinerated.

The IHS collection and recycling rate methodology ad-dressed the number and weight of waste batteries that are available for collection in a given year. This includes all bat-teries that are available for recycling- automotive batteries recovered within the vehicle lifetime and replaced with new batteries and used automotive batteries recovered from end-of-life vehicles.

The collection and recycling rate was therefore calculated as:

• automotive battery weight collected in a given year, di-vided by the estimate of the weight of automotive batter-ies available for collection and recycling in that year.

The batteries collected in a given year were calculated using data gathered from national authorities.

The estimated weight of automotive batteries collected was derived using IHS proprietary parc data and then ap-plying a formula for the battery’s expected lifetime within the vehicle, and from EUROSTAT data on End-of-Life vehicles.

This gives the following results for the current collection and recycling rate for lead-based batteries in Europe:

These figures are an average over the period 2010-2012.

Automotive batteries available for collection

1,110,730 t

Automotive batteries collected 1,093,645 t

Automotive lead-based battery collection and recycling rate 99 %



In the EU, used automotive lead-based batteries are typ-ically returned to the point of sale, for example, vehicle workshops, vehicle dealerships, accessory shops, and DIY stores; or they are returned to recycling businesses or metal dealerships. In all cases they are then sent on to collection points. The batteries are picked up at collection points by specialised companies who transport and deliver the bat-teries to secondary smelting plants operating under strict environmental regulations.

Once the lead-based batteries arrive at a smelter for recy-cling, in general the battery is broken down into component parts, these are sorted and processed. The lead-acid battery is an excellent example of a product allowing a complete end-of-life recycling, as all components of a lead-based bat-tery are available for recycling. Figure 6 shows the end of life scenario for a lead battery in the USA, where the lead, plastic and electrolyte are all recycled or reused. Currently over 80 % of a typical lead based battery is composed of material that is recycled from older batteries.

It is useful to note that even without the pressure from re-source conservation and environmental protection, there is a significant incentive to collect and recycle used automo-tive lead-based batteries. Recycling lead is relatively simple

and cost effective and in most of the applications where lead is used, especially lead-based batteries, it is possible to recover it for use over and over again without any loss in quality. The lead-battery recycling process can be repeated indefinitely, meaning that new lead batteries are made with materials that have been recycled many times over.

3.2 Lead battery LCA

In 2014 the key players in the supply chain for lead-based automotive batteries published a study to assess the impact of this product in its various applications on the environ-ment. This Life Cycle Assessment study was commissioned by EUROBAT, ILA, ACEA, JAMA and KAMA, which together represent the majority of Europe’s battery and automobile manufacturers, along with Japanese and Ko-rean automobile manufacturers and the international lead industry. This study, conducted according to rules and meth-odologies defined by ISO Standards 14040 and 14044, was a comprehensive evaluation of the three main automotive battery types from a cradle-to-grave perspective, and re-ported on their life cycle environmental performance. A third party critical was conducted by Prof. Dr. Matthias Finkbeiner, from the Technical University Berlin, Germany.

Fig. 6: Recycling of lead based batteries in USA [12]; over 93 % of a lead based battery can be recycled



Three lead-based battery applications were chosen for con-sideration in this study, with the contributing industry data representing more than 90 % of the production volume for those technologies in Europe:

• Standard technology batteries: Flooded lead-based bat-teries used in conventional vehicles, for starting the internal combustion engine (ICE), lighting and ignition systems – commonly known as starting, lighting and ignition (SLI).

• Improved technology batteries: Enhanced flooded (EFB) or Absorbent Glass Matt (AGM) lead-based batteries used in vehicles with a start-stop system, which allows the ICE to automatically shut down under brak-ing and rest and then to restart.

• Advanced technology batteries: EFB or AGM lead-based batteries used in vehicles with a micro-hybrid system, which combines start-stop functionality with regenerative braking (a system to recover and restore energy from braking), and other micro-hybrid features that require higher deep-cycle resistance and charge recoverability from the battery.

The rechargeable batteries referenced above have the function of providing electric energy to vehicles to cover several functionalities (e.g. starting, braking, lighting, etc.) available in conventional, micro hybrid vehicles; which have the function of providing transport services. The func-tional unit of the study was one lead-based battery with the capacity of 70 Ah applied to vehicles. An average of the weights of the batteries produced by the participants was selected to define the reference flow, in order to calculate the environmental impacts.

The parameters listed in Tables 3 and 4 were assigned to the different battery technologies.

The Life Cycle Assessment of the batteries was performed in three levels/systems:

A Cradle to gate system: This included the extraction of the raw materials and transport, the production of bat-tery parts and assembly.

B Cradle to gate + use stage: This included the cradle to gate battery System A with the use stage.

C Cradle to gate + EoL of battery: This included battery System A along with EoL scenarios (use phase includ-ing the vehicle EoL is not taken into account).

Mass allocation was applied by each company before aver-aging. For each battery, different scenarios were be created according to the battery technology and corresponding use stage (application). Figure 7 presents, schematically, all the systems that were considered within the study.

3.3 Results and interpretation – battery LCA

3.3.1 System A – manufacturing stage

For all battery technologies, the contribution of lead pro-duction to the impact categories under consideration was in the range of 40 % to 80 % of total cradle-to-gate impact, making it the most dominant contributor in the production phase (System A) of the life cycle of lead-based batteries. The contribution of lead production was more than 90 % to the ADPe category, where the usage of the earth’s el-ementary reserves make it the most relevant factor from the production stage for that impact category. This can be seen in Figures 8 to 10 which shows the CML impact for standard, improved and advanced technology batteries.

Amongst the batteries under consideration, the differences in impacts and emissions relate to the location of the pro-duction site (or specific location-mix of sites) in addition to the technology or battery composition itself. Different countries and sites operate have different emission levels

Fig. 7: Different systems considered by lead battery LCA

Table 3: Technical parameter per battery technology

Battery Average battery weight [kg]

Capacity [Ah]

Application Cold cranking performance [CCA]

Life span [years]

Standard technology 18 70 Conventional SLI 570 5

Improved technology 19 70 Start-Stop 680 5.5

Advanced technology 20 70 Micro-hybrid 760 6

Battery Application Lifetime of vehicle (Distance [km] and time [years])

Litre/100 km Number of batteries during lifetime of vehicle

Standard Technology Conventional SLI 150,000 km – 10 5.1 2

Improved Technology Start-stop 150,000 km – 10 5.0-4.85 1.8

Advanced Technology Micro-hybrid 150,000 km – 10 4.85-4.6 1.7

Table 4: Further parameters per battery technology



and these are reflected in a production mix when multiple geographic locations are averaged.

3.3.2 System B – System A + use phase

The batteries are required in conventional, start-stop, and micro-hybrid vehicles. The latter two feature reduced fuel consumption and emissions when compared to conven-tional applications. Although the improved technology and advanced technology batteries contain more lead (18 %

more than standard technology batteries) and have slightly higher impact in the production phase (3 % and 5 % higher GWP respectively), these batteries contribute significantly to fuel savings in the vehicle they are used in. Improved and advanced technology lead-based batteries bring posi-tive environmental benefits through reduction of fuel con-sumption by 2 to 10 % (depending on the battery technol-ogy and vehicle type) in the use phase. Therefore, used in their respective Start-stop and Micro-hybrid applications,

Fig. 8: System A results – manufacturing of standard battery technology

Fig. 9: System A results – manufacturing of improved battery technology

Fig. 10: System A results – manufacturing of advanced battery technology



the batteries result in GWP savings of 700 kg CO2 eqv. and 1600 kg CO2 eqv. respectively. This corresponds to 25 times and 55 times the entire manufacturing phase GWP of Standard Technology batteries. These fuel savings more than compensate for all Global Warming Potential result-ing fromthe battery production-this can be seen clearly in Figure 11.

Another significant observation from the study was that the battery’s overall environmental footprint during manu-facturing is negligible in comparison with the manufacture of the overall vehicle.

3.3.3 System C – System A + End-of-Life (EoL)

A cut-off approach was assessed for the EoL of lead-based batteries neglecting the burdens associated with the scrap (as input to the lead mix dataset used in manufacturing) and also the benefits of reusable lead once it is recycled. This approach follows a common practice in the automo-tive sector and represents a conservative approach. The results show an average of 60 % to 75 % of impact to come from the production of the battery and the rest from the recycling processes at the battery’s end-of-life.

Two scenarios were calculated in this study, for the end of life of lead batteries. In the first, “Open Loop Scenario”, the lead batteries are recycled and the lead produced sub-stitutes primary lead on the market. Thereby, it results in environmental credit or avoided burden. In the second, the recycled lead from batteries is assumed to all recirculate through the identical production processes to be made into new lead batteries. In this case, no consideration of avoided burden is necessary. Owing to the high take collection and recycling rates of automotive lead batteries in Europe (>99 %), the “Closed Loop Scenario” modelling approach most closely mirrors the real world material flow.

Using the “Closed Loop” methodology, there was a lower contribution from production and a greater proportion

comes from battery recycling. This is due to a lower amount of impacts from the production module as more secondary/recycled lead is fed back into the system.

The “Open Loop” methodology resulted in environmental credits to the system in the order of magnitude of 10 % to 20 % of total absolute impact to the system. The lead recy-cled at the end-of-life was considered to be reusable as a substitute for producing primary lead from mining ore and hence the “avoided burden” or primary lead production is credited to the system under consideration.

Both open and closed loop approaches presented similar benefits as both represent the substitution of primary lead with secondary lead, thereby reducing the environmental burden from the production (mining, concentration, etc.) of lead from ore.

3.4 Conclusion – battery LCA

The following conclusions were drawn from the study:

Vehicle production has a greater impact than battery pro-duction – Battery manufacturing and assembly processes as such do not play a dominant role in the environmental impacts of lead-based batteries. The study concludes that the material production of lead contributes most domi-nantly to the studied environmental impacts from battery production.

The high recycling rates of lead-based batteries reduce the environmental impacts of batteries considerably. In the EU, more than 99 % of automotive lead-based batteries are collected and recycled in a closed loop system [13] – a rate of recycling higher than any other mass consumer product. From an end-of-life perspective, the study finds that these sophisticated collection and recycling schemes, run by the European lead-based battery industry, dramati-cally reduce the need for the production of additional pri-mary lead – the dominant source of environmental impact in the life cycle of the batteries.

Fig. 11: Net impacts and savings associ-ated with batteries required over vehicle-lifetime, demonstrating the significant CO2 savings ob-served when using improved and advanced lead batteries



3.5 Future LCA work

The lead industry aspires to provide stakeholders with a thoroughly transparent overview of the sustainability of its operations. ILA and its members believe that only with the use of lifecycle data of both lead and competing materials, society can make informed decisions regarding the environmental impacts and benefits associated with the materials and products manufactured from them.

ILA members are committed to improving the environ-mental performance of lead production and manufacture of its products. To assist in this effort, ILA will continue to gather robust and quality LCA data. This is expected to include updating the lead production LCI to ensure a more comprehensive representation of European manufactur-ing, but also to perform lifecycle assessment of both lead production and lead products on a more global basis.

3.6 Comparative LCA studies on different battery technologies

Although it can be difficult to compare the sustainability credentials in different products and applications, a com-

parative life cycle assessment had been used to compare different battery chemistries. Argonne National Labora-tory, USA, [14] recently performed a review of the cradle to gate impacts materials used in the manufacturing of differ-ent battery technologies and concluded that lead-acid bat-teries had the lowest environmental impact of all battery technologies considered. The study compared LCA data from lead, nickel, sodium and lithium-based batteries, and stated that lead-acid batteries had the lowest production energy, and lowest emissions of carbon dioxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and Volatile Or-ganic Carbon. This can be seen in Figures 12 and 13.

The study concluded that lead acid batteries had the lowest environmental impact of all batteries. The study also states that “Whether on a per kilogram or per watt-hour capacity basis, the cradle to gate (CTG) production energy of lead acid batteries is the lowest of the five batteries reviewed. On a per kilogram basis, nickel cadmium is the next low-est, with the remaining batteries tied, given the variation in results. On a watt-hour basis, all batteries except lead acid are tied. When ranked on a CO2 emissions basis, the trend among the batteries is the same as that observed in

Fig. 13: Pollutant emissions (grams) per kg of battery production

Fig. 12: Cradle to gate CO2 emissions per kg of battery production

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

0 1 2 3 4 5

g/kg

Bat

tery

Lead Acid

Nickel Metal HydrideNickel Cadmium

VOC CO PMNOX SOX



the case of production energy. The lead acid batteries also have the lowest CTG criteria pollutant emissions among the batteries”.

4 What more needs to be done?

The information contained in this paper highlight the sig-nificant benefits and environmental sustainability creden-tials that lead and lead batteries bring to society. However, the lead and lead battery industry must not be complacent and be aware that there are issues to overcome, especially in relation to responsible and environmentally sound man-agement of used lead batteries in the developing world.

In addition, companies in the developed world using and manufacturing lead must adopt product stewardship as a core business principle and continue to reduce employee and environmental exposures of lead. Importantly the lead using industry must get much better at telling a 21st Century story about lead as many in society have outdated percep-tions about the use of lead from historical lessons learnt about lead in paint and petrol.

However, an equally important factor in ensuring a sustain-able future for lead is the need to continue to innovate so that lead-based products meet the future needs of custom-ers. This is especially important for lead-based batteries, which represent over 90 % of the lead market. Organisa-tions such as the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC) [15] are therefore critical in this regard.

5 Conclusions

This paper highlights that lead is essential for innovative products to help meet societal challenges. It focusses on the low life cycle impacts of lead and lead products that are driven by excellent collection and recycling rates (the collection and recycling rates of lead batteries is >99 % in Europe and the USA). These factors highlight the vital role lead has to play in helping to solve some of society’s sustainability challenges.

References

[1] International Lead Association (2015) [online]. Available at: http://

www.ila-lead.org/ [accessed 2 June 2015].

[2] International Lead Zinc Study Group (April 2015) ILZSG Lead and

Zinc Statistical Bulletin, 55: 4.

[3] thinkstep AG (2015): Literature research of lead-based battery

LCAs. – Germany (thinkstep AG).

[4] ISO 14040 Environmental Management – Life Cycle Assessment –

Principles and Framework (1997).

[5] ISO 14044 Environmental Management – Life cycle assessment –

Requirements and guidelines.

[6] European Life Cycle Database (2015) [online]. Available at: http://

eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ELCD3/ [Accessed 5 June 2015].

[7] Universität Stuttgart und PE International AG (2006): GaBi: Soft-

ware und Datenbank zur Ganzheitlichen Bilanzierung. – Leinfelden-

Echterdingen, Germany (IKP).

[8] International Lead Association (2015) [online]. Available at: http://

www.ila-lead.org/ [accessed 2 June 2015].

[9] International Zinc Association (2015) [online]. Available at: http://

www.zinc.org/ [accessed 2 June 2015].

[10] United States Environmental Protection Agency (2015): Air Trends:

Lead [online]. – Available at: http://www.epa.gov/air/airtrends/lead.

html#pbnat [accessed 10 June 2015].

[11] United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (2015):

Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental

Chemicals. – Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/pdf/

FourthReport_UpdatedTables_Feb2015.pdf [accessed 10 June 2015].

[12] Battery Council International (2014): National Recycling Rate Study

[online]. – Available at: http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/batterycouncil.site-

ym.com/resource/resmgr/BCI_Recycling_Rate_Study_200.pdf?

hhSearchTerms=%22recycling+and+rate+and+study%22. Chicago,

IL (SmithBucklin Statistics Group) [accessed 10 June 2015].

[13] IHS (2014) The Availability of Automotive Lead-Based Batteries

for Recycling in the EU. – Available at: http://www.eurobat.org/

studies-reveal-automotive-battery-trends-and-closed-loop-

recycling-13-nov-2014 [accessed 18 June 2015].

[14] Argonne National Laboratory (2010): A Review of Battery Life-Cy-

cle Analysis: State of Knowledge and Critical Needs. – ANL/ESD/10-

7; USA (Argonne National Laboratory).

[15] Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (2015) [online]. Available

at: http://www.alabc.org/ [accessed 2 June 2015].

Alistair J. DavidsonStephen P. BinksAndrew M. BushAll:International Lead AssociationBravington House2 Bravingtons WalkLondon N1 9AFGreat Britain

the sustainability credentials of lead - home | ila files/international... · alistair j. davidson...

Documents