A ticking time bomb

Government appears helpless in dealing with a growing unregulated backyard industry – one that exports acid-drenched lead derived from used vehicle and industrial lead-acid batteries.

The P12-billion local battery manufacturing industry is calling on the Department of Trade and Industry to put a stop to this practice by imposing a ban on the export of used lead-acid batteries (ULABs), which fetches a higher price than those bought by domestic manufacturers for recycling.

Republic Act No. 6969, or the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990, regulates the movement, handling, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes, for which one needs permits and licenses.

Meanwhile, RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 promotes waste segregation and recycling.

The Philippine Association of Battery Manufacturers Inc., believes that on the basis of these laws, the current problems besetting the industry may be addressed via the strict enforcement of licensing requirements and prohibitions, and serious implementation of a recycling program.

Right now, informal collectors and consolidators are able to collect and export improperly treated ULABs.

PABMI says the industry is policing its ranks strictly to ensure adherence to the rules governing the collection, treatment, storage and transportation of ULABs. The industry ensures that for purposes of recycling ULABs, local battery manufacturers deal only with DENR-accredited transporters and DENR-accredited treatment, storage and disposal facilities.

The industry’s compliance with the rules would have discouraged the informal collectors and consolidators from engaging in their crude treatment of ULABs. Instead, the informal sector merely turned to the export market where rules are not observed. The industry now suffers from an acute supply problem as a result of the unregulated export market.

In a number of developing countries, used batteries are destroyed manually using an axe which is extremely dangerous to the workers. According to a UN Environmental Programme study, inhaling dust, fumes or vapor can lead to acute lead poisoning. Chronic poisoning also results from absorbing low amounts of lead over long periods of time.

The same UN study warned that as more lead is absorbed into the body, paralysis sets in. In the final stages, the victim can die. Children are more susceptible to lead poisoning than adults and may suffer permanent neurological damage. Lead can damage the human fetus, so pregnant women should not work with lead. –Mary Ann Ll. Reyes (The Philippine Star)