Reactivity of waste generated during lead recycling: an integrated study

Lead consumption in Europe is 2.054 M tonnes/year, more than 70% of which is produced by recycling and, more specifically, the recycling of car batteries. This industry is jeopardised by the method employed so far, recycling by alkaline fusion, because the treatment produces 200,000 tonnes of toxic and unstable slag. The study presented here attempts to clarify the approach and the combined tools employed (mineralogy, chemistry, leaching, thermodynamics), to construct a coherent physicochemical model of slag behaviour. The model was then used to carry out sensitivity analyses with various landfill scenarios, and to propose adjustments to the process to recover the residual heavy metals and to upgrade as secondary raw products the co-products generated by the inerting of the slag.