By : ERIC J. LEECH
THE National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) combined with the support of the Lemelson Foundation provides $1.5 million to student and faculty programs and ventures annually. They sponsor today's featured inventive idea, The BEST (Better Environmental Sustainability Targets) Battery Certification Program, coming from Perry Gottesfeld, Director from OK (Occupational Knowledge) International, and Chris Cherry, assistant professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Luke Jones, PhD student in Environmental Economics from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
It is important to note with this particular NCIIA program, that the innovation in development is not a gadget or technological advancement, but rather a social idea. BEST is looking at the current policies on lead battery recycling in Asia, and is working with both the governments and manufacturers of vehicle batteries in order to improve upon the current (or non-existent) battery recycling programs going on. Many places in fact do not have a program and rely on individual smelters to melt the lead batteries down in their own backyard. To reduce the amount of lead battery polluting going on from these individual recyclers, BEST plans to adopt their lead battery recycling incentive program across Asia, one country at a time.
Chris and Perry have been working with the idea of a battery certification program in Vietnam (initially funded by the NCIIA) for a number of years, but the duo has now taken the program a few steps further to include negotiations with both China and India. BEST will soon become the only lead battery certification program ever introduced into these developing countries, which are in desperate need of regulation. Way to go Chris and Perry! Let's find out more about the program, in their own words:
Planet Green: Tell us about the BEST Lead Certification Program?
Perry: "In a nutshell the program is an incentive program for battery manufacturers to improve their manufacturing process, meet the specific emission targets, and agree to take back used batteries for proper recycling. If they do this they become eligible to be BEST certified (certification will allow them the ability to work with other large manufacturers who are currently also getting involved in the program by purchasing BEST certified batteries only). We have brought along major purchasers, like Honda, who are manufacturers in Asia to further bring incentive to these companies to do the right thing."
Chris: "I have been working in China since 2001. I became interested in looking at electric scooters and bicycles which have become very popular within the last decade or so. What I studied was the impact these vehicles had on China's mobility, safety, and environment. This was mainly because of the controversy going on as to whether these were good or bad for the environment. One of the things I did in my dissertation work was look specifically at electric scooters and bicycles and how they interact with the environment.
What I found was all these electric motorcycles essentially had a car sized lead acid battery as a power source. On top of that, these batteries are not like car batteries that last three or four years, but only generally last one year or so. So, there is this high turnover of batteries now in China. There is something like 50 to 60 million electric scooters and bikes and basically each one of these turns over a car sized battery each year.
I began to look at China lead acid recycling system to identify where these batteries go. They are of very high value here, so they are recycled, but whether they were recycled in a responsible manner was the question and an important one. Backyard recyclers release more of the lead into the environment. So you imagine how much lead is in a battery that weighs 12 to 14 kilograms. Then imagine 30 percent or so of that going into the environment every year and that poses quite of a problem."
How did you and Perry meet and begin to coordinate this program together?
Chris: "As I completed my dissertation and was following up with some of my work, I ended up crossing paths with Perry. Upon connecting we discussed ways to improve the lead acid battery recycling process in Asia and today we are focusing on marketing it."
What is the importance of this program's success?
Perry: "Globally there is a huge epidemic in terms of lead poisoning and it involves 120 million people who are overexposed to lead, according to the World Health Organization. That is about 3 times the number of people infected by HIV. Some of this lead is coming from these batteries. So it is a big part of this story."
How exactly is lead being released from the backyard Asian battery recyclers?
Perry: "The short story is they do not have a closed system. The backyard recyclers put the battery into something like a wok, makes a fire out of wood or coal, pretty soon that lead is melted. This is a very crude system. What our program is supporting is a closed system. We are talking about a factory with a collection system and closed furnace, so that anything that gets out will go through a filtration system. None of this is rocket science, it all exists today."
What are some of the health effects associated with improperly recycled lead batteries?
Perry: "There are effects on both adults and children in context of workers being overexposed. There are a range of effects on the lower levels, such as cardiovascular (stroke, high blood pressure, etc). At the midrange level, it effects the reproductive system and kidneys. At high levels it can cause serious neurological damage. In children, it is a similar range except at the low end, effects are associated with learning and behavioral difficulties. It effects their IQ and ability to perform in school even at the extremely low levels. At higher levels it can cause death for a child. For example, early this year 18 kids died due to their parents recycling lead batteries."
What are your goals for this program in the next five years?
Perry: "We are trying to address the manufacturing and recycling of lead batteries in one swoop and we are doing this with the cooperation of the existing industry. This is what makes our program very innovative. We realize that we are not going to be able to find every guy who is melting batteries in his backyard and selling it for scrap, it is impossible. Our plan is to work from the biggest players down, getting each of their cooperation to become certified. Then in doing so, get them to take back their own used batteries. In most countries the battery companies themselves are not taking back their product. There is no product support. Therefore, most of the recycling done is very informal and on a small scale."
"For example, in the work we are doing with Vietnam, we are working simultaneously with the industry to take back used batteries to reduce their own emissions, but at the same time we are working with government to initiate a regulation to require the collection of lead batteries. We are also working with a brand new recycling facility which would provide the first environmentally sound lead battery lead battery recycling in all of Vietnam."
What qualities make a recycling facility environmentally friendly?
Perry: "A large modern plant will have less manual labor and will have modern pollution control equipment to reduce the emissions coming out of the stack. The problem with lead is when you heat it up and melt it, as when you are making or recycling a battery, the lead gets airborne and it contaminates soil and dust. This is how most people in the environment get most of their exposure."
Chris: "Pollution rates depend on what country your in. Some places have somewhere around 95 percent efficiency in lead battery recycling. Only 5 percent of a battery is lost to the environment. Whereas backyard smelters in developing countries are about 50 percent efficient. China has some very efficient plants, but they also have some very inefficient plants where the loss rate is somewhere between 20 to 30 percent. There is a wide spectrum of efficiency levels. That is the purpose of this program, to provide some mechanism to regulate a higher efficiency using todays most cost efficient technology."
What has been your greatest challenge with this project?
Perry: "This is known as the silent epidemic for a reason. Many of the symptoms of lead poison are similar to other kinds of illness, such as the flu. It often gets misdiagnosed until it is too late. Part of our problem is getting the awareness level out there. It is a huge problem, yet it does not get the attention that it deserves."
How might our readers be able to get involved with this project?
Perry: "Our focus is not on the U.S. battery market. Most states have take back laws which offer a money incentive per battery. In terms of the consciousness we are trying to raise, I think people have this belief that solar and hybrids are all clean and green, but the truth in the matter is all of these technologies which are reliant on lead batteries (many purchased from overseas) are a huge problem for the environment. A huge source of global pollution. The best way for your readers to help, is to continue to recycle their own batteries and if they are able they can donate to our cause through our website, [url='http://www.okinternational.org/',K International[/url]."
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