WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ACTION – BATTERY RECYCLING
Shredded to batts Using metals from alkaline batteries that once went to landfill is a great environmental success story.
BATTERY RECYCLER ECOBATT IS WORKING TO MAKE ITS BEST EVEN BETTER TO ENSURE MAXIMUM RECOVERY.
T
here are various types of batteries, each with their own chemistries, capabilities, size and states of charge. It stands for reason each also presents its own challenge when it comes to recycling. For the past four years, EcoBatt has trialled various machinery and delved into research and development to find the right equipment to handle the range of sorted batteries in Australia. Doug Rowe, Director of EcoBatt and Recycal says industry colleagues overseas have been invaluable in helping find the most efficient and economical solutions for battery process in Australia.
54 / WMR / May 2022
“We feel confident we have created a great national collection network,” Doug says. “We have a world-class sorting facility. The next phase was always to build a state-of-the-art processing facility that can handle the full range of batteries and chemistries. “We have visited many processing plants overseas and seen how they process these batteries. It’s with this knowledge we have been able to install equipment with some confidence. “It’s a great system we have and it’s unique to Australia.” While granulators and small pre-shredders are used by some in battery recycling in Australia, Doug says they weren’t suitable
for the throughput or approach EcoBatt is aiming for. He says the non-DG alkaline batteries were always a focus because of the tonnage available – they account for about 70 per cent of batteries that are recycled. The steel-coated cans of the non-DG alkaline batteries are melted down and alloyed to make castings at the company’s foundry in Launceston, Tasmania. Once these castings are worn out, they’re melted again and again to make new castings. “To be able to melt them down and pick up the valuable metal units is a real bonus,” Doug says. “And it’s a great recycling story. A true in-
