Battery Council International Response to: 'Getting the Lead Out: Impacts of And Alternatives for Automotive Lead Uses,' Written By Environmental Defense, Ecology Center, Clean Car Campaign

CHICAGO, July 23 -- The following was released today by Battery Council International:

Battery Council International is the organization that represents the international lead-acid battery manufacturing and recycling industry.

We haven't had the opportunity to study the report in detail, but after a quick review, we see at least five major flaws in it:

  1.  The report misstates the recycling rate of lead-acid batteries by 100
      percent.  Today, Battery Council International is issuing its most
      recent lead recycling report.  It shows that between 1997 and 2001,
      the battery industry recycled 97.1 percent of spent battery lead.
      That leaves no more than 2.9 percent of battery lead unaccounted for,
      not 7 percent, as the report says.

  2.  The Environmental Defense report assumes that all of the batteries not
      recycled were dumped into landfills or illegally disposed of.  That's
      an invalid assumption.  We know that many people keep old batteries in
      storage.

      For example, a BCI poll from the early 90s showed that almost 20
      percent of American households reported having at least one old lead-
      acid battery in the garage or shed.

      And since 2001, AAA has collected more than 25,000 old lead-acid
      batteries during its Great Battery Roundup for Earth Day.

      Lead batteries have only rarely shown up when landfills have been
      excavated in academic studies of their content.

  3.  The report says that 300 million pounds of lead are released and
      transferred through normal vehicle use.  This is misleading at best.
      The report fails to note that -- because of the way the numbers are
      calculated -- this includes lead shipped to recycling facilities for
      recycling.  In fact, the vast majority of the lead used by the battery
      industry falls into this recycled category.

  4.  The report offers other battery chemistries as preferable to lead-
      acid, while completely ignoring the potential environmental, health
      and safety implications of these chemistries.  Without careful
      research and investigation, mass distribution of new battery
      chemistries could create many new problems.  Nickel compounds, for
      example, are listed by the State of California as a carcinogen.

      With lead, we're far along the learning curve.  Our industry has
      worked with it for 100 years.  We understand its health effects and we
      know how to protect our employees, our neighbors and the environment
      from too much exposure to it.  In fact, between 1945 and 1990, U.S.
      blood lead averages plummeted while battery production rose.  Blood
      lead averages fell from 28 to 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood
      while battery production rose from 17 million to almost 65 million
      units per year.

  5.  It's hard to argue with a 97.1 percent recycling rate for battery
      lead, and no other battery chemistry can come near that number.

      Car batteries are not disposed of.  Their materials -- mostly lead --
      are recycled indefinitely.  The battery industry has been continuously
      recycling and reusing lead from old car batteries for more than 50
      years.  There is virtually no recycling process for other chemistries,
      and it's hard to even imagine the cost of developing a recycling
      process and infrastructure comparable to what we already have with
      lead-acid batteries.

In short, lead-acid batteries have been proven for more than 100 years. They provide the greatest energy density per pound; they have the longest life cycle and are more affordable than any other chemistry.

More information on battery recycling is available at www.batterycouncil.org.