When the US switched in their cars for recycling old batteries, they might think they are doing good for the planet. And well done, recycle the battery charge of course on the environment, since the lead mining and processing of the cause of much greater carbon dioxide emissions from the excavations of old car batteries lead to be reused.
But my article from Mexico should remind us that recycling can be "green" or not, depending on how it's done. That's especially true for electronic waste, including batteries, where one of the goals of the recycling process is to extract the precious metals. In most of the world, recycling is a big business with ties to gangs and organized crime. This is often the case with lead battery recycling plant in Mexico, State officials were saying to me.
The cities I visited placed battery recyclers leading practices that caused the contamination lead around it because the recycling plant using primitive practices that allow lead dust and smoke to escape. Scientific studies are needed to determine the magnitude of the problem, but the left lead recyclers puts children in the surrounding area at risk of developmental delay, lower IQ and other health problems.
So, while You should feel good about recycling and make a concerted effort to do so, we need to ask more about how our castoffs processed. In most of the Basel Convention restrict or regulate the export of hazardous waste to poor countries. United States does not ratify the Treaty.
Many environmental problems are very difficult to solve, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But end up your battery led is used to export to the environment is not healthy plants in Mexico can be reached fairly easily, with a number of ways.