The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The illegal export of used car batteries and lead scraps continues in the country despite the ongoing ban imposed by the government.
This was revealed recently by Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) chairman Jesus Arranza after it was found out that big amount of the considered hazardous waste has been exported illegally by unscrupulous group.
“As a matter of policy, export of hazardous wastes like lead scrap and ULAB is not allowed when the country of origin has the capability to recycle them. If there is no clearance from the DENR, how did these shipments manage to slip through the Bureau of Customs (BOC). How come there is no record from the DENR and Department of Trade Industry (DTI) of who these exporters are?” Arranza asked.
Data showed that around 8,500 tons of lead waste and scrap were exported by the Philippines from January to August last year. But, there is no record if these exported lead scraps are in the form of ULABs (used lead-acid batteries) or were merely separated from used auto batteries.
But since scrap lead is mostly obtained from ULABs, Arranza said this means that these illegal exporters managed to get their hands on a big volume of old batteries. Using the data as basis, these illegal exporters are probably collecting around 500,000 pieces of ULAB at an average weight of 15 kilos per unit.
With this, FPI have partnered with Motolite, the country’s most-trusted battery brand which was represented by its marketing head Alexander Osias and communications head Max de Leon, to help ensure used lead acid batteries (ULAB) are being disposed and recycled properly. Both parties have committed to work together in the promotion and implementation of the “Balik Baterya Program” in order to further clean up the environment of pollution-causing ULABs while also raising funds for FPI’s projects and advocacies.
Motolite has been encouraging its customers to trade in their ULABs for a discount when they buy new batteries. Motolite brings all these used batteries to EERI for recycling. The lead, plastic pellets, and other recycled materials produced by EERI are then brought back to their production facility in Sta. Maria, Bulacan.