Rot in a deep sleep
Beijing began to recycle waste batteries from 1998, and waste battery recycling boxes are all over the city. No matter which recycling point, as long as the recycled battery has 30 kilograms, make a phone call and a car will pull the battery to a centralized storage place. The reporter went to Qing Er Group, which stores batteries in Beijing. A garbage station here collects hundreds of tons of waste batteries, most of which are disposable dry batteries, and there are a considerable number of rechargeable batteries. The batteries are packed in seven containers, occupying one third of the company's non-open space. Li, the stationmaster of the waste station, took out some batteries from different containers. The reporter saw that these batteries have begun to rot. Even the recently collected batteries have softened their skin and oozed chemical liquid.
Stationmaster Li said: "What we are most worried about is that so many batteries can't find the next home! Students and citizens have worked hard to receive and send, and no one is in charge below. When can this pile be the leader? For many years, the government has been asking us to recycle batteries. We have got off the bus and left the field, but we can't just put it away and pile it up here! Enterprises also have to talk about economic benefits. And with so many batteries concentrated here, will it also threaten the health of the staff? " Director Li said, let the reporter make a phone call and quickly find a "husband's family" for these used batteries. The reporter asked: "Who do you think is the most suitable?" Director Li said without hesitation: "whoever pollutes will be treated, and there will be a treatment fee for producing a battery!" " However, after the interview, stationmaster Li also specially said, "If there is no enterprise to deal with it, we still have the obligation to save it. "
A long list of electric activities to recycle used batteries in Shanghai was published online, and the network was spread all over the city. A woman who collects batteries in Shanghai said that Shanghai has collected more than 100 tons of used batteries in the past three years, and the Environmental Protection Bureau said that it can be collected again when conditions permit. The relevant person in charge of Haikou's environmental protection department said that when these recycled batteries could not be disposed of, they were temporarily stored in safer containers in garbage dumps; Relevant departments in Shijiazhuang are very enthusiastic about recycling batteries. There are 1 100 collection points in the city. It is said that the battery recycling rate in this city is 10%, which is higher than that in most cities in China. At present, more than 65,438+000 tons of waste batteries in Shijiazhuang are stored in sealed cement boxes lined with plastic films. The reporter interviewed the environmental protection departments of several cities, all of which were in a waiting state after centralized recycling.
To Accept or Not to Accept —— Fierce Confrontation in Battery Industry
There are two schools of thought on battery recycling in China.
One school thinks that centralized recycling of disposable batteries is of little significance, and centralized recycling without conditional treatment will cause centralized pollution. Some experts believe that the main components of dry batteries with the largest recycling amount are iron, zinc, manganese and trace mercury. This kind of battery does not contain much mercury, so there is no need to recycle it centrally. Lead-acid batteries and nickel-cadmium batteries that are extremely harmful to human health should be recycled. The mercury content in high mercury battery is only one thousandth of the total battery. With the landfill, the amount of heavy metals in the batteries entering the landfill is very small, which does not constitute pollution. However, the cost of recycling used batteries is too high, which is unprofitable from the economic point of view, not to mention the possibility of secondary pollution in the recycling process.
The person in charge of China Battery Association said that at present, China's disposable dry batteries have basically achieved low mercury content and are moving towards mercury-free, and will not pose a threat to the environment with the decentralized treatment of garbage. What should be done is to eliminate pollution from the production faucet, that is, to realize mercury-free recycling. Because of the high cost of recycling primary batteries, it is very difficult to stimulate enterprises to recycle disposable batteries without economic leverage. What needs to be recycled are rechargeable batteries and lead-acid batteries that pollute the environment. Some experts also cited examples that some developed countries do not concentrate on recycling disposable batteries at present.
The relevant person in charge of the environmental protection department believes that since mercury-free is to be achieved, the recycling of disposable batteries is not supported or opposed. This view seems to be a meaningful mockery of the great enthusiasm of Chinese people for recycling batteries at present.
Another view is that no matter what kind of battery, we must insist on recycling.
Experts in this school believe that although nine ministries and commissions, including China National Light Industry Federation and State Economic and Trade Commission, jointly issued 1997 "Regulations on Limiting the Mercury Content of Batteries", battery manufacturers are required to gradually reduce the mercury content of batteries, reaching a low mercury level in 2002 and mercury-free in 2005. However, the current situation in China is that most domestic batteries are disposable batteries, and the mercury-free process of batteries is not optimistic. According to the survey, among more than 0/000 battery manufacturers in China, only more than 300 are registered with China Battery Association. Although the batteries produced by large battery enterprises have achieved low or no mercury, the mercury content of batteries produced by a large number of small enterprises is still very high. Zhang Hu, a senior engineer at Hebei Dry Battery Testing Station, said that at present, the mercury content of batteries in China is uneven, and some of them are of very good quality, less than one in a million; Some of them are extremely poor, 20 times higher than the standard of low-mercury batteries and 1 10,000 times higher than the standard of mercury-free batteries.
The reporter learned that at present, there are less than 15% large-scale battery manufacturers in China that can mass-produce low mercury and mercury-free. Not long ago, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce conducted a survey on batteries, which showed that 20% of the batteries in the China market did not meet the standards. Therefore, learning from the experience of developed countries in realizing mercury-free batteries without recycling disposable batteries is not in line with China's national conditions. Experts believe that not only the mercury in the battery will cause pollution, but also zinc, manganese, cadmium and lead will seep into the ground with the decay of domestic garbage, which will also cause pollution if it exceeds a certain limit. These harmful substances enter the human body along the food chain, which greatly threatens people's health.
At present, the level of garbage disposal in China is relatively low. During the Ninth Five-Year Plan period, the annual output of garbage in China was 6.5438+0.4 million tons, and the treatment rate was 63%, but less than 6.5438+0% was really treated harmlessly. Of the nearly 1,000 landfills in large and medium-sized cities in China, 90% are still simply stacked, which is easy to cause large-scale pollution. Waste batteries and domestic garbage will be treated together, which will cause endless troubles. Experts believe that a large number of old batteries go to the garbage dump with garbage, which is also a kind of concentration. How can it not produce pollution? Mr. Zheng, the relevant person in charge of the Beijing Urban Management Committee, said that it is safer to collect and dispose of used batteries when conditions permit.
From the perspective of resource utilization, battery recycling has also been affirmed by many experts. Professor Zeng Pingrong of University of Science and Technology Beijing said that at present, more than 90% of the batteries produced in China are dry batteries, so it is impossible to pollute the environment. Moreover, not recycling these batteries is also a huge waste of resources. 3000 tons of waste batteries can be recycled 14 1 ton zinc ingot, 300 tons of metallurgical manganese dioxide, 260 tons of mill scale, 18 1 ton electrolytic zinc, 340 tons of electrolytic manganese dioxide and 500 tons of mill scale, which are equivalent to the cost of developing two medium-sized mines in China, not to mention these.
At present, China consumes about 8 billion batteries every year, and the average recycling efficiency is less than 2%. 99% of them have entered the landfill together with domestic garbage. It is this 2% that puts the management in an awkward position.
Enterprises are unwilling to deal with the loss of used batteries.
Since many environmental protection departments believe that whoever pollutes will be treated, what do enterprises that should legally undertake the disposal of used batteries think? The reporter interviewed some battery companies.
The person in charge of Beijing Jinpu Battery Co., Ltd. said that it is a loss to recycle and treat used batteries, because the technical equipment is not matched, and it will be rotten if it is too late to recycle. Moreover, the state does not subsidize battery recycling, and the recycling cost is too high. Now is a market economy, how can enterprises do unprofitable things? The person in charge of Tianjin Li Shen battery enterprise said: "We only sell batteries, and collecting batteries is not our business." Most battery companies hold this view, and some people who answer the phone don't even know about battery recycling.
Dalian Dongtai Company, a well-known domestic garbage disposal company, said that the disposal cost of used batteries is too high, which is not beneficial. Without national preferential policies, whoever does it will lose.
Someone wants to be Don Quixote.
When the big battery companies were not interested in treating waste batteries, the privately-run Beijing Donghua Xinxin Labor Service Co., Ltd. established the first and only waste battery treatment plant in China.
Wang Zixin, the chairman of this company, is called "environmental madman". You are "crazy" because you dare to do what others don't do. Wang Zixin has set up hundreds of waste battery recycling points and telephones in Beijing, so that as soon as a reporter called the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, people immediately introduced the battery recycling hotline in Wang Zixin. Wang Zixin told reporters that in order to be responsible for future generations, he will do something in the industrialization of used batteries, and now he has invested all his millions of assets. He said that only by establishing an industrial chain of waste battery recycling can this cause be carried forward.
Wang Zixin said: "A lot of disposable batteries are not recycled, which pollutes the environment and wastes a lot of resources. Each battery contains 22% zinc, 26% manganese and 65,438+07% iron. If you throw it away without treatment, it is equivalent to throwing away tens of millions of tons of useful raw materials every year, which are extracted from tens of thousands of tons of ore! This is definitely a sunrise industry. If state-owned enterprises don't do it, our private enterprises will do it! "
Wang Zixin studied medicine before, and deeply studied the harm of waste batteries to human body. Later, I changed to a chemical company to study the utilization of waste batteries. From 65438 to 0999, he started the business of recycling used batteries.
Wang Zixin walked a road full of thorns. His waste battery recycling enterprise was established in Yixian County, Hebei Province. Although the technical equipment has been put in place, it has been delayed because of the opposition of local authorities. The local authorities believe that waste battery treatment enterprises will definitely produce pollution. Although the emission conditions of this enterprise fully meet the national standards, it will not allow production. Wang Zixin wants to move, but wherever he goes, he is said to be a waste battery disposal enterprise, and he won't let people in. Wang Zixin said helplessly: "I don't know where my home can fall!" "However, he is not discouraged. He is trying to use the latest technology to make enterprises meet the most stringent emission standards, and then strive to get the certification of the national environmental protection department. He said that he would explore a unique way to deal with the waste batteries in China.
Wang Zixin also told reporters that recently, he is preparing to set up a battery recycling enterprise in Beijing to attract laid-off workers to find jobs. He explained the meaning of his business name: the first word "Xin" means prosperous financial resources, and the second word "Xin" means warmth. He said that what he wants to do is a win-win enterprise with social and economic benefits and full of human feelings.
Of course, environmental protection enterprises cannot enter a virtuous circle without the support of national policies.
The reporter asked: "What if the national policy does not encourage centralized recycling of disposable batteries in the future?" He said, "That's terrible, because it means my raw materials are gone."
Some tax authorities asked Wang Zixin: "Can private enterprises do long-term unprofitable things?"
Wang Zixin said: "I recycle used batteries as a profession."
He told reporters with passion: "I am now the contemporary Don Quixote, sprinting with a spear." He challenged not only the complex social environment, but also the barriers of ideas.
Wang Zixin has detailed plans for every link of the waste battery industry chain, trying to make the profit mechanism run the battery recycling network. He wrote to the mayor of Beijing that by 2008, the recycling rate of used batteries in Beijing should reach 50%.
See how foreign countries do it.
The reporter checked some information. Let's take a look at how to recycle batteries abroad.
At present, zinc-manganese dry batteries in Japan, the United States and Europe have all been mercury-free, and the resource utilization of waste batteries is mainly concentrated on lead batteries and rechargeable batteries. However, Japan still insists on the recovery and recycling of disposable batteries, and the recovery rate of disposable batteries reaches about 50%. Some experts believe that it is unsustainable for developed countries not to recycle disposable batteries from the perspective of resource conservation.
Recovery of lead-acid batteries and cadmium-nickel batteries. In the United States, if users don't return used batteries to manufacturers, retailers or wholesalers, they must pay an extra $ 3-5 for each new battery. So the battery recovery rate in the United States is almost 100%. Article 6 of German battery regulations stipulates that if the user fails to return the used battery, the seller can add 15 DM when selling the new battery. Italy promulgated the battery recycling law in June of 1998+0 1, and established the COBAT Federation according to this law, in which 50% of the members are lead recycling smelters, 30% are battery manufacturers, 10% are waste dealers and the rest are battery retailers. Customers must pay an additional tax when buying batteries. As early as 1989, Sweden promulgated the returbatt plan to promote battery recycling, requiring all battery retailers to recycle waste batteries, and imposing a tax of 35 kroner on each lead battery, so that the battery recycling rate in Sweden reached 19 1 year.
Some experts believe that developed countries do not deal with disposable batteries, which is not in line with China's national conditions, because at present, disposable batteries in China account for 97% of battery consumption. While absorbing the experience of battery recycling in developed countries, it is meaningful to combine the national conditions of China. Moreover, in the current situation of low battery recovery rate in China, it is imperative to popularize battery recovery knowledge.