Environmental and human health impact assessments of battery systems

Abstract

Abstract Total life cycle analyses may be utilized to establish the relative environmental and human health impacts of battery systems over their entire lifetime, from the production of the raw materials to the ultimate disposal of the spent battery. The three most important factors determining the total life cycle impact appear to be battery composition, battery performance, and the degree to which spent batteries are recycled after their useful lifetime. This assessment examines both rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries, and includes lead acid, nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, lithium ion, carbon zinc and alkaline manganese batteries. Battery metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, nickel, cobalt, chromium, vanadium, lithium, manganese and zinc, as well as acidic or alkaline electrolytes, may have adverse human health and environmental effects. The specific forms of these materials as well as the relative amounts present will establish the risks associated with that particular battery system. However, the degree to which such batteries are collected and recycled after their useful life may largely mitigate any such adverse effects. Landfill or incineration disposal options are not as desirable as recycling, but the risks associated with those options are not so unacceptably high as to require the phase outs of any existing battery technologies. Battery performance characteristics, likewise, are important in establishing the amount of potentially hazardous waste generated per unit of battery energy generated. Rechargeable battery systems obviously enjoy a great advantage in this respect since they may be recharged and reused many times. However, other factors such as the battery voltage, ampere-hour rating, cycle life, charging efficiency and self-discharge characteristics may also be important in establishing the total amounts of hazardous waste generated per unit of battery energy and thus the total environmental impact per unit of battery energy. Safety issues have also become more important in recent years as more active battery chemistries have been developed. In particular, the presence of corrosive electrolytes and highly ignitable or explosive battery materials under certain conditions has become an issue which the battery industry must address. At present, it appears as if improvement in the recycling rates of spent batteries will produce the most substantial decreases in the environmental and human health impacts of battery systems.