Section 25215 Of Article 10.5. Management Of Lead Acid Batteries From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 20. >> Chapter 6.5. >> Article 10.5.
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. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) There are currently 24 million motor vehicles registered in
this state and each contains a lead acid battery for starting,
lighting, and ignition applications.
(b) An estimated 8 million used lead acid batteries are generated
and replaced in this state each year. The average lead acid battery
contains 17.5 pounds of lead, 1.5 gallons of sulfuric acid, and 1.6
pounds of polypropylene.
(c) There has existed an efficient and comprehensive recycling
process whereby used lead acid batteries are returned by the consumer
to the lead acid battery retailer when a new lead acid battery is
purchased by the consumer, often involving an "exchange" discount.
These returned lead batteries are then picked up and eventually
transported to secondary lead smelters who then reclaim the lead and
polypropylene for use in new batteries and other products and
neutralize the sulfuric acid.
(d) This lead acid battery recycling process is losing its
comprehensive nature and, in recent years, an estimated 30 percent of
all used lead acid batteries nationwide are not finding their way
into the recycling process. In California, this gap translates into
2.4 million used lead acid batteries escaping the recycling process
each year.
(e) The decline in the lead acid battery recycling process is due
to a combination of depressed lead prices, higher operating costs,
and an erosion in the exchange process between the consumer and
retailer of lead acid batteries. Increasing numbers of consumers are
not returning their old lead acid batteries when purchasing new ones
and increasing numbers of distributors and retailers are not
accepting used lead acid batteries.
(f) While there are no data on where these batteries are going, it
is very likely that they are being stored indefinitely in private
garages, or disposed of in municipal sanitary landfills, on
roadsides, in ditches, under bridges, in bodies of water, and at
secluded locations.
(g) These 2.4 million unrecycled lead acid batteries are not being
disposed of properly and represent the introduction of 210,000 tons
of lead, 3 million gallons of sulfuric acid, and 3.2 million pounds
of polypropylene, all hazardous waste, into the environment each
year.
(h) The introduction of these volumes of hazardous waste poses a
significant and unacceptable risk to the public health and safety and
steps need to be taken to attain the renewed viability of the lead
acid battery recycling process.
(i) If consumers and retailers were encouraged to return and
collect these used lead acid batteries for the recycling process, a
major source of hazardous waste that is presently being disposed of
improperly could be successfully eliminated.