Lead batteries have the highest recycling rate of any product with estimates that 97 percent of the lead in batteries is processed for reuse, according to Battery Council International.
In most cases, recycling has unquestioned environmental benefits, but lead batteries that are recycled abroad can be significant contributors to environmental lead contamination. Although the recycling industry in the U.S. has made significant strides in recent years to improve efficiency and reduce lead emissions, a larger proportion of used batteries are now being exported for recycling in Mexico and other developing countries (see table 1).