Lead Recycling in the United States in 1998
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FLOW STUDIES FOR RECYCLING METAL COMMODITIES IN THE UNITED STATES Lead Recycling in the United States in 1998 By Gerald R. Smith CONTENTS Abstract ..................................................................................................1 Introduction ...............................................................................................1 History and use patterns ...............................................................................1 Global geologic occurrence of lead ......................................................................2 Lead production process and global production ............................................................4 Lead market prices ...................................................................................5 Sources of lead scrap ........................................................................................5 Old scrap generated ..................................................................................5 New scrap .........................................................................................6 Disposition ................................................................................................6 Old scrap recycling efficiency .................................................................................6 Secondary lead infrastructure ..................................................................................7 Battery scrap collection system .........................................................................7 Trade .............................................................................................7 Processing of lead scrap .....................................................................................7 Spent battery scrap ...................................................................................7 Battery fabrication ...................................................................................8 Outlook for lead recycling ....................................................................................8 References cited ...........................................................................................8 Appendix—Recycling definitions ..............................................................................9 FIGURES 1. U.S. lead recycling flow in 1998 .............................................................................2 2. U.S. lead consumption, in batteries, 1978-98 ...................................................................3 3. U.S. lead consumption, by end use, nonbattery uses, 1978-98 ......................................................4 TABLE 1. U.S. salient lead scrap statistics in 1998 ....................................................................... 6 i FLOW STUDIES FOR RECYCLING METAL COMMODITIES IN THE UNITED STATES Lead Recycling in the United States in 1998 By Gerald R. Smith ABSTRACT This materials flow study includes a description of lead supply and demand factors for the United States to illustrate the extent of lead recycling and to identify recycling trends. Understanding the system of materials flow from source to ultimate disposition can assist in improving the management of the use of natural resources in a manner that is compatible with sound environmental practices. The quantity of lead recycled in 1998, as a percentage of apparent lead supply, was estimated to be about 63%, and recycling efficiency, to be 95%. Of the total lead consumed in products for the U.S. market in 1998, an estimated 10% was consumed in products in which the lead was not readily recyclable. INTRODUCTION Figure 1 illustrates the flow of lead in the United States during 1998. The sources of lead supply and the distribution of these supplies are quantified in this illustration so as to determine specific information on recycling, including lead scrap recycling efficiency and lead scrap recycling rate. As an introduction prior to specific discussion of the components of figure 1, the following background on lead, including its history, important uses and use trends, geological occurrence, production processes and market prices is discussed. HISTORY AND USE PATTERNS Lead is a very corrosion-resistant, dense, ductile, and malleable blue-gray metal that has been used for at least 5,000 years. Early uses of lead included building materials, pigments for glazing ceramics, and pipes for transporting water. The castles and cathedrals of Europe contain considerable quantities of lead in decorative fixtures, roofs, pipes, and windows (Shea, 1996, p. 1). Lead scrap has represented a portion of lead supply in the United States since the 1800’s. The earliest known report of consumption of lead scrap was between 1867 and 1889, when a total of about 11,000 metric tons (t) of lead scrap were imported for unspecified uses in the United States (Kirchhoff, 1894). Actual U.S. production of lead from scrap was first reported in 1907. In the following 2 years, about 77,000 t of recycled lead were recovered (Siebenthal, 1911, p. 187). The recovery of lead from scrap increased significantly in the United States during the next 18 years, and by 1927, nearly 252,000 t of lead was recovered from scrap; this represented an estimated 27% of the total refined lead consumed (Smith, 1930, p. 341). By 1980, the quantity recovered had reached 675,000 t, which was about 63% of the total refined lead consumed (Rathjen, 1981, p. 480), and by 1998, it had risen to 1.12 million metric tons (Mt), which was 69% of consumption (Smith, 2000). Prior to the early 1900’s, uses of lead in the United States were primarily for ammunition, brass, burial vault liners, ceramic glazes, leaded glass and crystal, paints or other protective coatings, pewter, and water lines and pipes. The advent of the electrical age and communications, which were accelerated by technological developments in World War I, resulted in the addition of bearing metals, cable covering, caulking lead, solders, and type metal to the list of lead uses. With the growth in production of public and private motorized vehicles and the associated use of starting-lighting-ignition (SLI) lead-acid storage batteries and terne metal for gas tanks after World War I, demand for lead increased. Most of these uses for lead continued to increase with the growth in population and the national economy. Contributing to the increase in demand for lead was the use of lead as radiation shielding in medical analysis and video display equipment and as an additive in gasoline, the latter use peaking in the late 1970’s when environmental bans on leaded gasoline were introduced. Figures 2 and 3 show the trends in consumption of lead in the United States since 1978. By the mid-1980’s, a significant shift in lead end-use patterns had taken place. The demand for lead in SLI-type batteries grew rapidly, and this growth continued into the 1990’s (fig. 2). In addition, the demand for lead in non-SLI battery applications also grew. Non-SLI battery applications include motive sources of power for airport ground equipment, industrial forklifts, mining equipment, and a variety of nonroad utility vehicles, as well as stationary sources of power in uninterruptible electric power systems for computer and telecommunications networks, and hospitals, and load-leveling equipment for electric utility companies. The use of lead in nonbattery products declined as battery demand increased (fig. 3). DOMESTIC SUPPLY OF UNWROUGHT DISTRIBUTION OF DOMESTIC SUPPLY OF UNWROUGHT PRIMARY AND SECONDARY LEAD PRIMARY AND SECONDARY LEAD Release of industry and Government stocks 63 of refined metal: Government...........50 Industry.................13 1,790 267 Imports of refined 24 lead metal Exports of refined lead metal 343 Domestic production of 1,770 primary lead metal 7 Fabrication Net exports of 7 Home 1 semifabricated Processing scrap Old scrap generated: 1,770 products losses Batteries...........1,170 Other.....................50 Home 5 Lead 55 scrap Domestic production of products secondary lead metal reservoir 1,120 1,220 1,060 Old scrap supply net change 1,700 Old scrap consumed: New (prompt) scrap Batteries..........1,010 7 Old scrap generated: 1,230 + 300 Lead 178 Solder...................12 stock Dissipative Drosses and residues...46 products to Other..... ...............42 103 decrease uses Copper-base scrap.........9 55 U.S. market 63 Old scrap exports New (prompt) scrap consumed: 1,520 Drosses and residues.........46 Copper-base scrap...............9 55 Unrecovered old scrap Figure 1. U.S. lead material flow in 1998 (thousand metric tons). Much of the decline in nonbattery use of lead was a result of the U.S. lead consumers compliance with environmental regulations that significantly reduced or eliminated the use of lead in products that included gasoline, paints, solders, and water systems. Data for consumption of lead as chemical additives in gasoline were estimated for the period 1987 through 1995. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a direct final rule that prohibits the use of such additives in highway vehicles effective January 1, 1996 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1996). By 1998, the total demand for all types of lead-acid storage batteries represented a record high 88% of apparent U.S. lead consumption. Other significant uses included ammunition (3%), oxides in glass and ceramics (3%), casting metals (2%), and sheet lead (1%). The remainder was consumed in bearing metals, brass and bronze billets, covering for cable, caulking lead, extruded