The number of collected batteries. How the first battery recycling plant appeared in Russia. How to organize battery collection

In December 2013, the Media Markt hypermarket chain launched Russia's first battery collection program. Today, the authorized collection network for used batteries unites 66 Media Markt stores in 30 cities of Russia. In the first six months, the program managed to collect more than 300,000 (7 tons) of batteries.

— To begin with, I would like to immediately ask: how are things going with the battery recycling program?

Megapolisresurs and I are often tormented by questions about when it will all end: we have money, the plant has nerves. But, fortunately, the project is doing great, and we are extending it for 2015 without any doubt. It would be stupid to invest so much money and effort into the development of this topic and close at the start, especially since interest in the battery recycling program is growing.

Now in our stores we will be distributing compact eco-boxes, which are convenient for collecting dead batteries at home. They will also be available at Recycle events.

Megapolisresurs is also doing well, because, as often happens, once one major player achieves success in a new field, it is much easier for everyone else to decide to try it for themselves.

The plant has new partners. As far as I know, there are already agreements with MTS and IKEA, and a number of other companies are moving in this direction. We ourselves regularly receive letters from our colleagues asking us to tell them how to organize the collection of batteries in their retail chains, offices or banks. This is encouraging.

- How many batteries have you collected since the launch of the recycling program?

We planned to collect 7 tons in a year, but it happened in just six months. So by the end of 2014 we expect about 15 tons: the pace is not slowing down, plus in the second half of the year we opened several stores in cities that were new to us - Krasnoyarsk, Yoshkar-Ola, Petrozavodsk, where there is often simply no other opportunity to hand over collected batteries for guaranteed recycling.

Calculate exact amount It is difficult to collect batteries at any given moment, because they accumulate in stores sometimes for six months and we get the results after taking them out for recycling. They collect most actively, of course, in major cities- we remove large containers from Moscow stores every 2-3 months.

- How does the program work?

By law, we are required to remove batteries at least once every six months. The infrastructure itself is built in such a way that it is convenient for all participants in the chain. IN trading floor Every hypermarket in the chain has a pink container that holds about 20 kg of batteries. There is another box in the store’s warehouse, designed for 400 kilograms. The contents of a small container are regularly poured into it, and when it is full, the warehouse specialist seals the box and calls Megapolisresurs.

A car comes from the factory to pick up the batteries. And so on in all cities of Russia. We, of course, try to make sure that the truck takes out recyclables from several hypermarkets at once. This reduces logistics costs and carbon footprint.

The volumes of batteries that we usually send to Megapolisresurs are crushed in a couple of hours. Plus, several more days are spent extracting valuable metals. At the same time, the plant is capable of recycling up to 15 thousand tons of batteries annually, and the share of recovered resources is up to 80%. This is a very high figure. In Finland, for example, the battery recycling process ends at the stage of separating the iron casing from the inside of the battery.

- How much does Media Markt pay for battery recycling?

A significant part of our expenses is related to logistics, because Media Markt hypermarkets are scattered throughout Russia. As a result, the initial price tag of Megapolisresurs for transporting and processing a kilogram of batteries is about 110 rubles.

At some point we were forced to limit the acceptance of batteries to 10 kilograms per person at a time. We were happy when the batteries were handed over ordinary people, for whom the program is intended, activists, schoolchildren, but when online stores and other commercial structures began to bring hundreds of kilograms of batteries, shouting at every corner how “green” and responsible they were, we had to refuse them. After all, we have to pay for disposal anyway.

I am sure that there is no actual “responsibility” in environmental responsibility at someone else’s expense. By installing a container, you are responsible to people for where, how and for what money its contents will be processed. No budget - collect waste paper.

- Many people simply don’t know that you pay a lot of money for processing.

This is one of the prevailing myths: “any waste turns into income.” But this is not so. There are valuable recyclable materials - non-ferrous metals, waste paper, plastic. But in the case of batteries we're talking about not about benefits (the cost of raw materials does not even cover logistics costs), but about reducing damage to the ecosystem. There are a number of wastes that any business is required to pay for their disposal by law. For example, offices are required to pay for the disposal of office equipment, lamps daylight, restaurants must recycle fat from deep fryers, hairdressers must recycle cut hair. No one has any questions about this; no one is trying to place their cans of oil in the neighboring restaurant, because it is larger.

- How did Media Markt’s large-scale battery recycling program begin?

Before the project, I worked in the PR department of Media Markt for two years, performing a standard set of PR duties. But I really wanted to launch some socially significant project, especially since our chain of hypermarkets is German, and therefore there were all the prerequisites for this. Separate waste collection, energy-efficient stores, providing data for the Sustainability Report - all these processes were established at Media Markt from the very beginning.

But it's internal corporate responsibility, which only company employees know about, it is invisible to ordinary people. There are no large public environmental projects covering all countries where Media Markt operates. But we are a decentralized company, that is, each division in a particular country, city, even each store can offer its own initiative.

We began to study the experience of the network in other countries. Media Markt in Italy, for example, invested a lot of effort into a project to restore forests after large fires. The Dutch host eco-weekends, Austrian stores have green areas: products that are specially recommended by the local ecology department go there. joint project with the network. Turks began collecting small electronics for recycling several years before it was enshrined in law. The idea with batteries was formed gradually, although it hovered for a long time in the air.

- Why batteries?

One of key points The decision was made by a letter from a girl from St. Petersburg that arrived at our corporate email. She asked why we don’t accept batteries for recycling in the same way as the German Media Markt does. We then thought - really, why?

They're small and easy to store - an easy first step to waste separation for many. In addition, the damage from batteries is much greater than from anything else. household waste, and they contain valuable metals, the supply of which is limited on the planet, and extraction is very dirty. At that time, there was not a single federal initiative in Russia, within the framework of which batteries would not only be collected, but also guaranteed to be recycled; we had the opportunity to occupy this niche.

- How did your colleagues react to the idea?

The main lawyer of the project was Anya Trofimova, head of the PR department. She immediately saw great potential in the idea and helped us look at it from a business point of view. My beautiful and stupid activist ardor had to be turned towards solving business problems. After all, no company will give millions to save hedgehogs, and if it does, it will cut this budget at the first economic difficulties.

To create something big and lasting, it must be relevant to the company's core business. We spent a long time analyzing the future effect of the project, its value for our clients and employees, the needs target audience. It’s not enough to deliver containers, we also need to talk about it, so we spent a lot of effort on a PR strategy: choosing the right tools and communication channels, studying Russian and Foreign experience in the field of PR of social projects, calculated the budget. And with this they came to the leadership and prepared to defend their idea.

German management received the project surprisingly warmly. It turned out that all our expats, even CEO, have been carrying dead batteries home to Germany for years. They are used to separating garbage and suffer from the lack of infrastructure in Russia. Initially, we came with a modest plan to launch a pilot recycling program only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but the foreign leadership of the company insisted that the project be launched throughout Russia.

It was a revelation to me how much can be done from within a large corporation. Where a private activist has a fiery heart, two free hands, three containers in the entrance and a poster on the fence, the company has a huge network in dozens of cities, the interest of federal media, and expertise good specialists, budget and the opportunity to attract interesting partners - that alone is worth it!

Yes, you will have strict boundaries and requirements, and it’s not a fact that you will be able to “break through” your idea at all, but if everything works out, then the scale will be completely different, and you will simply have to work efficiently, observing deadlines and agreements - with this in projects done in free time, there are problems.

- How did you get involved with Megapolisresurs?

I accidentally came across an old article on bg.ru that said that a certain plant in Chelyabinsk was ready to launch a line for recycling batteries. Back then I didn’t know that Media Markt was already collaborating with Megapolisresurs, albeit on a different issue. Since the opening of the network in Russia, the plant has been processing fixer (a fixative for photographic images on film) from our photo laboratories in stores. We met, realized that we were looking in the same direction, and prepared to be the first in Russia to try out a scheme for collecting and recycling batteries.

After we found a processor, it took 3-4 months to resolve legal issues, because we were faced with an abyss of holes in Russian legislation. To begin with, the batteries were not included in the Federal Waste Classifier (FWCC). That is, in legal terms they simply do not exist. Our lawyers, together with Megapoliresurs, worked for a long time on correct wording and a competent collection procedure, because liability for violations of environmental legislation is serious.

Along the way, we were looking for partners to share the financial costs of the project with them. German manufacturer VARTA batteries responded immediately and enthusiastically. This is not the first time they have been pioneers in the field of battery collection - they have experience in large campaigns in Eastern Europe. VARTA actively cooperates with GRS, the national battery collector in Germany.

Of all battery manufacturers, they are perhaps the most environmentally responsible: they use FSC-certified cardboard for packaging, some series of batteries have an assessment certificate for life cycle Nordic Swan product. They still produce batteries in Germany, and not in China, where environmental requirements for production are incomparably lower.

The second participant, Leto Bank, was also found quickly; this is our partner for lending in stores with, in my opinion, the most friendly face, despite the serious rear in the form of VTB. As it turns out, so do people in suits. ecological problems not alien at all.

It's even more pleasant that it's completely Russian company- we absolutely did not want sighs on the topic “Only foreign business cares about Russian ecology.” In November 2013, after 6 months of turmoil, we launched a battery recycling program, first in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and by the end of the year throughout Russia.

- The project will soon be one year old. What fears did you have that didn't come true?

Many people have asked us: “Who needs to recycle batteries anyway? Our people are not the same; in Russia, people for the most part don’t care about environmental problems.” When we at Media Markt launched the program, this did not scare us - we saw that in activist circles, at least, this topic was constantly discussed.

But there was another fear - that the explosion of interest in the project would be followed by complete silence and failure. In the first months, those who have been saving them for years will bring batteries, but ordinary people will not be drawn into this practice. Now I can say with confidence that this did not happen. The most different people, even those completely far from environmental activism, like the project, they tell their friends about it and bring batteries to us, often with their children, which is especially nice.

This is in Once again proves: the problem is with separate collection not lack of consciousness, but poor infrastructure. Provide convenient, permanent, good-looking collection points, and people will be happy to join in the practice.

Almost all modern portable equipment runs on the energy of AA batteries. Of course, this is very convenient: such a source of electricity is very compact, inexpensive and versatile, because it has standard sizes and shapes. But at the same time, AA batteries are attracting increased attention in all civilized countries of the world - both from users and from manufacturers. Why? The fact is that each, even the smallest battery, contains in its design a whole spectrum chemical elements, which are commonly called heavy metals. These include mercury, lead, cadmium, and some other minerals. When batteries are used for their intended purpose, they perform their physical and chemical function. But after a used battery ends up in a landfill and begins to decompose there along with other waste, heavy metals begin to poison the biosphere.

Out of sight, out of mind: when we get rid of a used battery, we immediately forget about it and its composition. Meanwhile, chemical processes do not depend on our thoughts and/or desires and continue naturally. In the case of batteries ending up in a landfill, there are two main ways of poisoning the environment:

1. The battery shell decomposes, and toxic substances enter the soil, then into The groundwater and reservoirs, rivers, seas. From these reservoirs water comes into our homes, we drink it, give it to children and use it for hygienic purposes. Fish and others Marine life accumulate poisons in their bodies, which we also eat. To put it simply, we voluntarily poison our body with heavy metals.
   
2. Batteries in landfills and incinerators burn along with the garbage, but the smoke from them not only smells bad, but contains so-called dioxins. These compounds, tens of times more toxic than cyanide, penetrate into the air, and then into water, soil, plants, animal meat and, consequently, into the human body.
   

• nervous disorders, brain diseases;
  
• swollen;
  
• diseases of the kidneys and the genitourinary system;
  
• thyroid diseases, metabolic disorders;
  
• mutations in the respiratory system, hearing and vision impairment.
  

What to do with batteries
IN different countries throughout the world, mainly Western and Japan, close attention is paid to battery recycling. Used batteries are collected, sorted and disposed of at specialized enterprises (there are more than 40 of them in Europe alone). And for different types batteries (salt, alkaline, lithium, etc.) different processing technologies are used, and subsequently their raw materials are used in production. As for Russia and neighboring countries, then such a practice is still in its infancy. Today, enthusiasts create battery collection points and promote their proper disposal. To join this laudable initiative, you can follow these simple instructions:

1. Start by saying that the next time you remove a dead battery from the remote control or player, do not throw it in the trash, but wrap it in paper or a bag and set it aside separately so that you can later take it to a special battery collection point.
   
2. By your own example, you can contribute to the development useful habit Do not throw away batteries from your friends and/or neighbors. To do this, simply install a box in your own entrance into which they can put batteries. Place a small announcement nearby explaining what, why and why you expect from others.
   
3. box (or plastic bottle) to collect batteries, place it so that direct sunlight does not fall on it and its contents are not heated by the radiator.
   
4. Hang it on the ground floor, in the hall or on front door announcement so that neighbors can know about your endeavor. Find in social internet networks communities of people doing the same thing, and notify them of an additional opportunity to collect batteries.
   
5. If your city has public battery containers, dispose of them there periodically. If not, wait until you have a few of them (or set a regular date, for example, once a month) and take them to a battery collection point. Addresses of such points in different cities easy to find on the Internet.
   
6. Most likely, it will not be possible for each individual person to take every single or pair of batteries to a collection point, so become a volunteer at least on the scale of your apartment, entrance, house.
   

Recycling of accumulators and batteries- This is a problem that now faces all countries of the world. The main purpose of battery recycling is to prevent hazardous substances from entering the environment. Lead-acid and nickel-cadmium batteries are especially dangerous. You should not store old lead-acid batteries at home, especially where children play. Even just touching lead poles can be dangerous. About, how to properly store different types of batteries, can be read in. Also, a table with characteristics is given in the article.

Of the total global production of batteries and accumulators, only 3% is recycled, while some countries recycle more, while others do not recycle at all. In the US, about 60% of batteries are recycled (20-40% lithium-ion and 97% lead-acid), most European countries 25-45% is recycled, in Australia - about 80%. In developing countries, there is virtually no recycling and batteries are thrown away with household waste.

Why is battery recycling necessary?

Despite the fact that lead-acid batteries are environmentally unfriendly, they make up a significant share of the market. Nickel-cadmium batteries also continue to hold a leading position among batteries. Europe has banned the sale of consumer products containing nickel-cadmium batteries because they can be replaced by nickel-metal hydride batteries. If they are found in consumer products, managing their disposal is very difficult, as many users simply do not know what is inside the devices.

Until toxic batteries have adequate alternatives on the market, we will have to accept their use. When used and disposed of correctly, they do not cause harm. However, improper use and disposal of nickel-cadmium batteries can cause enormous environmental damage in the long term. When it ends up in a landfill, the metal cylinder from the element begins to corrode over time, and the cadmium gradually dissolves, seeping into the water supply. In humans, soluble cadmium compounds affect the central nervous system, liver and kidneys, disrupt phosphorus-calcium metabolism. Chronic cadmium poisoning leads to bone destruction and anemia. Research by scientists has already detected traces of cadmium in the oceans (along with aspirin, penicillin and antidepressants), but its origin is not yet certain.

Nickel-metal hydride batteries contain nickel and an electrolyte, which are considered semi-toxic substances. In the absence of collection points for waste batteries, which are very rare in our country, individual nickel-metal hydride batteries can be thrown away with other household waste. However, it is still better to recycle such batteries.

Primary (i.e. disposable) lithium batteries contain lithium metal, which reacts violently when exposed to moisture, so batteries must be disposed of correctly. If a battery ends up in a landfill in a charged state, its casing may be damaged by heavy objects dumped on top, and this can lead to electrolyte leakage and a fire. Fires in landfills are difficult to extinguish, and a huge amount of fire is released into the air. harmful substances. So before recycling, lithium batteries are first completely discharged. Disposable lithium batteries are used in military equipment, watches, hearing aids, etc. Lithium-ion batteries For cell phones and laptops do not contain lithium metal.

In Russia, the problem of battery disposal is very acute, primarily due to the environmental illiteracy of the population, as well as the lack of an established recycling and disposal scheme.

Table 1 shows the cost of materials contained in a ton of lithium-ion batteries. The table also includes the cost of lead-acid batteries, as they are the most profitable from a recycling point of view.

Table 1 – Cost of material per ton of batteries. Lead acid batteries remain most suitable for processing; 70% they contain secondary lead

Recycling process for batteries

If the company is engaged in processing various types batteries, recycling begins with sorting the batteries depending on their composition and charge level. Sorting is a rather labor-intensive process. According to recycling companies, the recycling process will then profitable business, when there is a constant flow of sorted batteries.

The recycling process usually begins with the removal of flammable materials such as plastics and insulation using a gas thermal oxidation unit. The scrubber removes particles produced during the combustion process before releasing them into the atmosphere. After this, cleaned metal elements remain. The elements are then cut into small pieces and heated until they melt. Non-metallic substances are burned, after which black slag remains on top, which is removed. The liquid alloys are distributed by weight and separated from each other in the same way as cream is skimmed from milk.

Cadmium is a relatively light metal that evaporates when high temperatures. In the refining process, which uses a fryer-like setup with water boiling on top, a fan blows cadmium vapor into a large pipe where it is cooled by a water mist, then the vapor is condensed to produce 99.95% cadmium.

Some refining plants do not separate the metals themselves, but instead pour the resulting liquid alloys into molds and send them to plants that produce nickel, chromium and iron for stainless steel and other high-tech products.

At the Toxco plant in North America Liquid nitrogen is used to crush, crush and extract lithium and other components from lithium batteries. To make lithium non-reactive, it is dissolved in a special solution. The solution is then sold to make grease. Cobalt is separated and sold in the same way.

Battery recycling is a highly energy-intensive process, requiring 6 to 10 times more energy to extract metals than is required to produce the materials through other means, including mining. A natural question arises: “Who then pays for battery recycling?”

To create conditions processing enterprises Each country sets its own rules and fees. In North America, for example, some businesses charge by weight of recycled material, with rates varying depending on chemical composition batteries

When batteries are produced in the European Union, their cost initially takes into account disposal costs. A customer in a store receives a discount on new batteries by returning old batteries.

Nickel-metal hydride batteries are the most cost-effective because recycling produces enough nickel to make the process worthwhile. The highest recycling fees are imposed on nickel-cadmium and lithium-ion batteries because demand for cadmium is low and lithium-ion contains little recoverable metal.

Until recently, there were enterprises in Russia that were only engaged in the collection and storage of batteries. Recycling is expensive and virtually unprofitable. But in October of this year, the first battery recycling line was launched at the Chelyabinsk recycling plant. The company's technology allows 80% of alkaline batteries to be recycled using the hydrometallurgical method.

Thus, now collected alkaline batteries will be disposed of in Chelyabinsk. Intermediaries between the consumer and the plant should be public organizations and large retail chains. We can only hope that the waste battery collection system will be well established and the number of batteries thrown into landfill will be reduced.

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Material for processing:

Performance: up to 1000 kg/h *

This line consists of:

Loading hopper - 1 pc.

Belt conveyor - 2 pcs.

Vibrating sieve - 1 pc.

Magnetic separator - 1 pc.

Loading hopper -

Belt conveyor - with

Hammer mill -

Vibrating sieve - with

Magnetic separator -

Automatic switch.

Specifications

Scheme

10 - Dosing hopper

20 - Conveyor belt

40 - Vibrating sieve

50 - Magnetic separator

60 - Conveyor belt

Video

Battery recycling line

Material for processing: Batteries of various sizes and shapes

Performance: up to 1000 kg/h *

This line consists of:

Loading hopper - 1 pc.

Belt conveyor - 2 pcs.

Specialized mill - 1 pc.

Vibrating sieve - 1 pc.

Magnetic separator - 1 pc.

Electrical control panel - 1 pc.

This solution is designed for grinding and subsequent separation of magnetic metals used in batteries. Once the batteries enter the line, they pass through a series of devices, the first stage of processing is to feed the material onto a vibrating conveyor to distribute it evenly onto the conveyor belt that feeds the mill. Subsequently, the batteries move along a conveyor belt to the second stage and enter a specialized mill for grinding. The mill is designed to grind small materials to a homogeneous fraction, which subsequently allows for more efficient and high-quality extraction of magnetic metals from total mass recycled batteries. Subsequently, after the mill, the crushed material enters the third stage of processing, where secondary raw materials are separated from the crushed mass. At the third stage, the batteries crushed in the mill pass through a specialized separator, which is designed to extract magnetic metals and feed them into a separate container for accumulation. The black mass remaining after separation that is not secondary raw materials They enter a storage bunker, which is subsequently transported to places of neutralization and disposal.

Loading hopper - necessary for waste collection.

Belt conveyor - with Tinned for transporting batteries during recycling.

Hammer mill - are used for grinding small metal materials to a homogeneous fraction. The mill has high productivity and is also designed for use in small spaces.

Features of crushers are:

Economical energy consumption.

Easy to adjust grinding process for various metals such as aluminum, copper, steel, brass, etc.

The hammers are wear-resistant and are selected according to the type of material being processed.

Complies with European safety requirements.

Vibrating sieve - with consists of a conveyor equipped with sieves with a diameter of 3-5 mm for dust removal.

Magnetic separator - installed in places where material is poured. A magnetic separator consists of a statically fixed magnetic circuit and a non-magnetic body rotating around the circuit. They extract the metal fraction from the material flow, holding it in the area of ​​the magnetic circuit, and then, by rotating the drum, move it to the screening area. The system is complemented by a rubber band and is used for the extraction of ferrous metals

Electrical control panel
Power comes from a network with a voltage of 380/400 V.
Automatic switch.

10 - Dosing hopper

20 - Conveyor belt

30 – Specialized mill 55 kW

40 - Vibrating sieve

50 - Magnetic separator

60 - Conveyor belt

70 - Electrical control panel

Batteries that are broken and thrown away with general trash, as well as mercury lamps And Appliances pose a serious threat to human health and environment.

Mercury vapor contained in energy saving lamps and fluorescent lamps, as well as nickel, lead and others Mercury

Metallic mercury is poison. According to the degree of impact on the human body, mercury belongs to the 1st hazard class - extremely dangerous substances. Only vapors and soluble mercury compounds are toxic. At a temperature of 18°C, intense evaporation of mercury into the atmosphere begins; inhalation of such air contributes to its accumulation in the body, from where it is no longer excreted (like other heavy metals). Mercury causes nervous disorders, impaired vision, hearing, musculoskeletal disorders, and diseases. respiratory system. Children are the most vulnerable. Regardless of the route of entry into the body, mercury accumulates in the kidneys.

However, in order to accumulate a significant amount of mercury in the body, it is necessary for several months or years to regularly stay in a room with a significant excess of the maximum permissible concentration of this substance in the air.

The concentration of mercury vapor, which can lead to severe chronic diseases, ranges from 0.001 to 0.005 mg/m3. At higher concentrations, mercury is absorbed by intact skin. Acute poisoning may occur at concentrations of 0.13–0.80 mg/m3. Intoxication with fatal develops when inhaling 2.5 grams of mercury vapor.

Lead

Lead accumulates mainly in the kidneys. Causes brain diseases, nervous disorders, joint and muscle pain.

Cadmium

Cadmium accumulates in the liver, kidneys, bones and thyroid gland and causes cancer.

Therefore, such waste must be handed over for neutralization and disposal to special collection points.

2. Where are used batteries accepted?

You can donate used batteries at environmental education centers of the Department of Natural Resources Management and Environmental Protection. Battery collection points:

• eco-center “Kuskovo” - 3rd Museumnaya street, building 40;
• eco-center “Sparrow Hills” - Andreevskaya embankment, building 1;
• eco-center “Horse Yard” - Metallurgov Street, building 41;
• eco-center “Tsarskaya Apiary” - Izmailovskaya Apiary village, building 1;
• ANO "OEC "Kuskovo" - Veshnyakovskaya street, building 1, building 3;
• directorate natural areas"Moskvoretsky" - Bolshaya Naberezhnaya street, building 19.

The batteries are sent for recycling, where heavy metals are removed from them. All recovered material is then reused for new batteries. This saves energy and raw materials and does not harm the environment or people.

3. Where are used mercury lamps accepted?

Waste mercury-containing lamps are accepted at management companies, from where they are sent for recycling.

The principle of recycling lamps is based on their destruction and separation into broken glass, scrap ferrous and non-ferrous metals and phosphor. The metal of the bases goes to recycling, and glass chips - for filling uneven roads. The small amount of mercury produced is converted to a safe solid state.