Battery Council International is part of a global effort to promote responsible battery production and recycling. The industry is committed to working with others to end informal battery recycling in low and middle income countries where the practice exists and to transfer knowledge and skills to help others achieve the best practices found in North America and Europe. That initiative now has a name – LeadBattery360°, along with a new website and a continued commitment to the vision of a sustainable world powered by lead batteries that meet the highest standards in raw materials and battery sourcing, manufacturing and recycling globally.

A Bit of History

BCI, along with the International Lead Association (ILA), the Association of Battery Recyclers (ABR) and EU-based automotive and industrial battery association EUROBAT, joined forces in September 2019 to advance environmentally responsible production and recycling worldwide. The joint memorandum of understanding was an agreement to formalize ongoing industry efforts under the umbrella of a material stewardship program.

In early 2020, the group adopted guiding principles to help further protect workers and the environment. Those principles are:

1. Support responsible battery manufacturing and recycling by placing environmental health and safety excellence at the heart of our operations.
2. Promote the sound management of lead exposure and emissions by setting continuous improvement targets and sharing best practices.
   
3. Adopt responsible sourcing policies for lead containing materials, seek to identify risks in the supply chain, and use our influence to promote best practices for EHS (Environment, Health and Safety) performance in suppliers’ operations.
4. Minimize the environmental impact of our products by encouraging the development of programs that ensure effective collection, transportation and environmentally sound recycling of used lead batteries.
5. Adopt business practices that consider the communities impacted by our operations, respect the human and labor rights of our employees, and work against corruption in all its forms.
6. Proactively engage key stakeholders in an open and transparent manner.
7. Partner with key stakeholders and government agencies to share our expertise and promote environmentally sound recycling of lead batteries in low and medium-income countries.

In October 2022 the associations took the next step toward improving informal recycling practices with the launch of its public website, and announcing the program would be named LeadBattery360°.

Participating Organizations

The four participating industry groups who represent lead and lead battery manufacturers and global battery recyclers are: