Upgrading the Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Sector in Africa

Background: Environmental Risks from Unsound Battery Recycling

Driven by rising vehicle ownership, decentralized energy systems, and other emerging technologies, demand for lead-containing batteries is steadily increasing across Africa. While Lithium based batteries gain relevance all over the world, lead-acid batteries remain a primary form of energy storage, including in countries like Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania. Although relatively safe in use, lead-acid batteries pose serious environmental and health risks when improperly handled at the end of their life. Lead is a toxic heavy metal and emissions from unsound recycling is a severe health concern and known to be one of the potentially most polluting industries in such countries.

A systemic analysis from the 2024 Global Burden of Disease Study ranks lead exposure as a significant global health risk- positioned above hazards such as unsafe sanitation and illicit drug use. In many African countries, used lead-acid batteries (ULABs) are often collected by informal networks and delivered to industrial smelters operating with sub-standard safety and environmental practices. Many industrial smelters require ULABs to be drained of their sulfuric acid prior to delivery, leading informal collectors to dump the toxic liquid into open drains, ditches, or directly onto the ground.

Project Approach: Improving Standards through Capacity Building and Regulation

To support address these issues, the ProBaMet project was launched as a joint initiative by the Oeko-Institut, WirtschaftsVereinigung Metalle (WV Metalle), Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADeV-Nigeria), and the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE). The Initiative for Global Solidarity, who financed the project, was represented by Jana Mandel of the GIZ GoCircular Program. The project aims to improve recycling practices through a three-pronged approach:

• Training recycling facility managers in effective implementation of environmental, health and safety standards.
• Supporting regulatory authorities in strengthening standards and their enforcement.
• Improving business opportunities for high-standard recyclers by connecting them to responsible battery using industries and buyers and users of lead.

In an earlier review, the activities of the ProBaMet project in Nigeria have been highlighted. Through these efforts, ProBaMet contributed to safer, more sustainable battery recycling in Nigeria and set an example for the wider African region as to the efficacy of multi-stakeholder initiatives.

National Progress: ProBaMet Conference in Abuja

Held from March 18–19, 2025, the conference titled “Upgrading the Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Sector in the African Region” marked the culmination of the ProBaMet project’s activities in Nigeria. Hosted by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), the event convened high-level stakeholders from Nigeria and across Africa to address the shared environmental and regulatory challenges facing the ULAB recycling sector.

For donors, policymakers, and industry representatives, the conference served as a critical platform for dialogue, reflection, and future planning. Day one focused on national progress, with NESREA highlighting key improvements in regulatory enforcement and facility assessment capabilities—signaling Nigeria’s growing institutional capacity to manage hazardous waste more effectively.

The conference also gave voice to the private sector. Mr. Ali Fawaz, General Manager of Green Recycling—Nigeria’s only positively listed recycling facility by the ProBaMet project—spoke candidly about the structural imbalances in the sector. He warned that without stronger enforcement, compliant operators investing in environmental safeguards risked being edged out by lower-standard recyclers offering unsustainably high prices for ULABs. Sub-standard recyclers can afford these high prices because the environmental cost of ULAB recycling is borne by the communities who are subjected to lead emissions. Public announcements of several renewable energy firms to preferentially dispose of their ULABs with the positively listed recycler under the Circularity Guidelines developed by the ARE under the ProBaMet project, aim to specifically support best performing facilities in sourcing ULABs.

Community Voices and Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration

A multi-stakeholder visioning workshop brought together participants from across Africa to collaboratively develop a 10-year roadmap aimed at creating a safer, more sustainable ULAB recycling industry. The workshop concluded with a high-level panel discussion featuring NESREA’s Director General, community leaders, legislators, and the head of the German Platform Lead (WV Metalle). Key messages from the panel underscored the urgent need for enhanced regulatory oversight, regular facility assessments, and robust institutional support to ensure long-term progress in the sector. A particularly powerful moment came from the Oba of Ogijo, a prominent traditional leader from Ogun State, who voiced his community’s deep frustration with the situation and the continued lead emissions from substandard ULAB recycling operations. His remarks highlighted a critical disconnect between the lived experiences of affected communities and the improvement strategies that sometimes do not reach beyond the status of paper documents. The event demonstrated the value of multi-stakeholder initiatives like ProBaMet in facilitating dialogue among diverse actors who seldom have structured opportunities to engage—laying the groundwork for more inclusive and sustainable approaches to ULAB end-of-life management.

Regional Perspectives: Common Challenges, Shared Solutions

The second day of the ProBaMet conference took an outward-looking approach, featuring expert insights from Ghana, Tanzania, Cameroon, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Country-specific presentations provided a comparative perspective on used lead-acid battery (ULAB) management across Africa, revealing that many of the challenges faced in Nigeria—such as weak enforcement, and environmental risks—are mirrored across the continent.

This shared reality highlighted the potential for regional collaboration, mutual learning, and the adoption of best practices tailored to African contexts. A spirit of constructive competition also emerged, encouraging countries to raise their standards and regulatory effectiveness. A standout moment came from Dr. Hannah Wamuyu of Jomo Kenyatta University’s School of Law in Kenya, who presented a compelling case study on legal accountability. She outlined the consequences faced by regulatory agencies that license environmentally unsound recyclers in Kenya as a result of a lawsuit by the affected community and the environmental activist Ms. Phyllis Omido, underscoring the importance of legal frameworks and social activism in driving reform in the ULAB sector. A lesson well-noted by regulators of the various African countries present.

In the afternoon, the conference pivoted toward the development of a continent-wide strategy for ULAB management. Dr. Tadesse Amera of PAN-Ethiopia led the session, highlighting the urgent need for harmonized regulatory and operational frameworks that can guide sustainable practices across national borders. He built on the clear evidence of several African countries facing similar challenges and dynamics in the ULAB recycling sector, noting that interventions should have the elements of multi-stakeholder frameworks to ensure the dual benefits of regulatory enforcements and incentivizing progressively higher quality and standard of ULAB recycling. A high-level panel discussion followed, bringing together African regulators, technical experts, and international lead buyers to debate and promote a proposed Call for Action for the ULAB recycling sector in Africa. The strategy aims to unify public health goals, environmental protection, and responsible industrial development—while promoting local ownership and cross-border cooperation. It was clear that further interventions in the sector would be best placed within the framework of strong local ownership with the central inclusion of African organizations who are best placed to create the environment for multi-stakeholder engagements.

Next Steps: From Project End to Long-Term Impact

The call for action was subsequently publicly signed by the experts and regulators present indicating broad support for such an initiative with multi-stakeholder dimensions on the continent. It was advanced for international engagement and presented on April 28 at the 2025 Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions Conference of Parties in Geneva, marking a significant step toward aligning African ULAB recycling with globally accepted standards. More on this session and the Call for Action on Africa´s Lead-acid Battery Recycling Industry will be announced soon!

As the ProBaMet project officially concludes at the end of May 2025, its impact is set to endure beyond the successful organization of a conference through key interventions such as the Call for Action, circularity guidelines, and the positive listing of a recycler operating at significantly higher standards in Nigeria. Equally promising are the strong foundations established for ongoing facility assessments and the development of improvement plans as part of enforcement measures.

There are also strong indications of international users of lead initiating reforms for improved environmental and social due diligence measures in Nigeria. These efforts are expected to continue generating positive ripple effects both within Nigeria and across similar contexts globally. In Nigeria, building on earlier classroom-based capacity-building sessions and field assessments of ULAB) facilities—conducted using tailored assessment tools and documentation methods aligned with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of ULABs—regulatory authorities have undertaken follow-up assessments of these facilities. They have also pledged to continue ongoing monitoring and enforcement efforts, using the established assessment frameworks and documentation practices as a foundation for compliance oversight.

The signs for reform and improvement in the ULAB sector in Nigeria are indeed promising however, lasting positive change will rely heavily on sustained efforts by all stakeholders including regulators, battery using industries who dispose of ULABs, national and international organizations who buy lead outputs from recycling facilities and international donor organizations who finance interventions in the sector. A collaborative and long-term commitment from these actors is essential to drive systemic improvements and ensure the environmentally sound management of ULABs over the long term.

Frederick Adjei is researcher in the Sustainable Products & Material Flows division of Oeko-Institut in Berlin.

Further Information

ProBaMet project summary report  

Study on feasibility of the ProBaMet approach in other countries and secondary non-ferrous metals supply chains