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The Battery Council International (“BCI”) released a report addressing the recycling rate of United States lead batteries.

The document is titled:

National Recycling Rate Study

Publication Date: July 2023 (study years 2017-2021) (“Study”)

The Study was conducted by Vault Consulting.

BCI describes itself as the leading trade association representing the North American battery industry.

The Study is stated to have determined that the United States lead battery industry has a recycling rate of 99%. It provides updates to aggregated data for the five-year reporting period 2017-2021.

The recycling rate was stated to have been derived by dividing the total pounds of lead batteries recycled by the total pounds of lead available for recycling in the United States. Because the Study included the period involving the COVID pandemic in which there was significant market fluctuation, BCI states that a 10-year trailing average was calculated for the recycling rate, utilizing data from its current and past National Recycling Rate Studies.

The first similar study was conducted in 1990.

A copy of the Study can be downloaded here.