Path to the sustainable development of China's secondary lead industry: An overview of the current status of waste lead-acid battery recycling

Lead-acid batteries (LABs) are widely used in electric bicycles, motor vehicles, communication stations, and energy storage systems because they utilize readily available raw materials while providing stable voltage, safety and reliability, and high resource utilization. China produces a large number of waste lead-acid batteries (WLABs). However, because of the poor state of the country's collection system, China's formal recycling rate is much lower than that of developed countries and regions, posing a serious threat to the environment and human health. This study follows the entire lifecycle of WLABs within the industrial chain and social consumption system to better understand the processes of waste generation, recycling, and resource utilization. During the production stage, the consumption pattern of WLABs is similar to that of electronic waste; therefore, quantitative models are used to measure the number of WLABs that are produced based on the market supply model and Stanford model. This study elucidates the current status of WLAB recycling in China and the main challenges in this sector after reviewing recycling processes in developed countries. Moreover, based on on-the-spot investigations of recycling enterprises, this study reviews the development of lead recycling technology and clarifies the current shortcomings of China's secondary lead industry. Further, it identifies the causes for China's low formal recycling rate at each stage of the process of WLAB recycling and presents relevant policy suggestions.