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.

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