When a used lead-acid battery is casually discarded in a corner, it may be a potential source of pollution; but once it enters a regulated recycling system, it becomes a recyclable "urban mine." In an era where lead resources are scarce and environmental pressures are mounting, the recycling of used lead-acid batteries has long transcended simple "waste disposal"—it has become a critical link connecting resource protection, environmental safety, and industrial upgrading. At the heart of this lies the circular value of lead.

Lead accounts for 60%-80% of the weight of a lead-acid battery, meaning every used battery is a concentrated "lead resource." Compared to primary lead, which is extracted from ore, recycled lead boasts impressive "cost-effectiveness": its smelting cost is only 50%-70% of that of primary lead, with energy consumption reduced by over 75% and carbon emissions cut by approximately 70% during production. More importantly, recycled lead can reach a purity of 99.9%, fully meeting the needs of manufacturing new batteries, cable sheaths, lead alloys, and other products—even outperforming primary lead in stability in some applications.

This "second life" directly translates to efficient resource utilization. Globally, lead-acid battery recycling saves approximately 20 million tons of lead ore from being mined each year, equivalent to relieving the Earth of hundreds of millions of tons of mining waste. In China alone, recycled lead output accounted for over 70% of total lead production in 2024, equivalent to avoiding the extraction of nearly 300 medium-sized lead mines. This is the true meaning of "urban mines": allowing non-renewable resources to extend their lifespan through circulation.

The toxicity of lead is undeniable: 1 gram of lead leaked into soil can contaminate 1 square meter of land for decades; if it seeps into groundwater, it enters the human body through crops and drinking water, damaging the nervous and hematopoietic systems—particularly threatening children’s intellectual development. In the past, illegal dismantling of used batteries (such as open-air lead smelting) was a major source of lead pollution, with the blood lead excess rate among children in some polluted areas once reaching 30%.

Regulated recycling has built an "invisible defense line." Through professional dismantling and enclosed smelting, the lead recovery rate exceeds 95%, almost eliminating the leakage of lead dust and slag. Statistics show that after China’s standardized recycling rate of lead-acid batteries rose from less than 40% in 2015 to over 90% in 2024, the number of soil lead pollution exceeding standard points nationwide dropped by 62% compared to 2016. Behind these figures is the sense of security for countless families, now protected from the risk of lead poisoning.

The value of lead-acid battery recycling extends far beyond lead regeneration. It is driving the formation of a closed-loop industrial chain: "production-use-recycling-reproduction." Battery enterprises establish recycling networks through the "Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system"; recycling companies and smelters collaborate to achieve "point-to-point" transportation; recycled lead is directly supplied to downstream manufacturing. This model reduces lead consumption per kilowatt-hour of electricity by 15% and lowers the carbon footprint of the entire industry by nearly 40%.

In recycled lead industrial parks in Jiangsu, Guangdong, and other regions, even plastic casings and electrolytes from battery dismantling are "fully utilized": plastic is processed into raw materials for new battery casings, and sulfuric acid in electrolytes is purified for reuse. This "full-factor recycling" model has increased the comprehensive utilization rate of used lead-acid batteries from 70% to 98%, truly realizing the ecological benefit of "turning waste into treasure."

From the "rebirth" of a single used battery to the green transformation of an entire industry, the essence of lead-acid battery recycling is humanity’s profound practice of "limited resources, infinite circulation." When the concept of "urban mines" replaces the habit of "discarding waste," the circular value of lead is no longer just an economic account—it is an ecological account and an account for the future. After all, safeguarding the fate of every used battery is safeguarding the shared soil we all depend on.