Waste lead-acid batteries were once regarded as a "time bomb" for environmental pollution. Smelting and converting them into lead ingots not only realizes the resource recycling of "turning waste into treasure" but also demonstrates multiple significant advantages in environmental protection, economic development and industrial development, making it an important practice in implementing the green, low-carbon and circular economy.
Resource recycling is one of its core advantages. As a non-renewable resource, primary lead mining requires complex processes such as mining and mineral processing, accompanied by substantial resource loss. Waste lead-acid batteries are rich in lead content. Through modern processes such as automatic crushing, sorting, smelting and refining, the lead recovery rate can reach more than 98.5%, and auxiliary substances such as plastic and sulfuric acid can also be recycled and reused simultaneously. This closed-loop model of "resource - product - waste - recycled resource" greatly improves resource utilization efficiency, effectively alleviates the dependence on primary lead ores, and provides strong support for the sustainable utilization of resources.
The energy conservation and environmental protection benefits are particularly prominent, which are in line with the "double carbon" strategic goals. Compared with primary lead production, the unit energy consumption of recycled lead smelting is significantly lower, only half of that of primary lead or even lower. Producing one ton of recycled lead can save 1,360 kilograms of standard coal and reduce water consumption by 208 tons at the same time. In terms of pollutant emissions, through advanced technologies such as closed production and waste gas treatment, the emissions of waste gas and solid waste during recycled lead production are greatly reduced, and no waste water is discharged. The treated industrial water can even meet the standard for watering flowers and raising fish, curbing the risks of soil and water pollution caused by random disposal of waste batteries from the source.
The economic value and industrial synergy advantages cannot be ignored either. The production cost of recycled lead smelting is about 38% lower than that of primary lead, and the product purity can be stably maintained above 99.99%, with no difference in performance from primary lead. It can fully meet the high-end needs of lead-acid batteries, machinery manufacturing, radiation protection materials and other fields. This cost advantage has promoted the large-scale development of the recycled lead industry. Many enterprises have achieved full-load production, forming a complete industrial chain cluster from waste battery recycling, smelting and regeneration to intensive processing, which not only drives the growth of output value but also creates a large number of employment opportunities. At the same time, the improvement of the recycling system has also promoted the popularization of consumption models such as "trade-in", further consolidating the industrial ecology of the circular economy.
From the perspective of social value, the standardized smelting and treatment of waste lead-acid batteries has solved the industry problem of hazardous waste disposal, reduced environmental safety risks, and built a solid defense line for ecological environmental protection. Today, recycled lead accounts for 65% of China's total lead output, marking that China's lead industry has officially entered the era of "recycled lead dominance". The practice of smelting waste lead-acid batteries into lead ingots is providing a replicable model for the green transformation of traditional industries.
