RBC Endorses UN's Partnership for a Lead-Free Future

‍FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

September 20, 2024

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RBC [@] NahigianStrategies.com

Executive Director Steve Christensen Says Childhood Lead Exposure “Simply Cannot Continue.”

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WASHINGTON – Recognizing the vital importance of recycling lead from used vehicle and industrial batteries, both to conserve a valuable resource and prevent lead contamination in the environment, the Responsible Battery Coalition (RBC) today proudly supports the launch of the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future (PLF). 

“Disturbingly, lead poisoning remains a severe threat to children's health and welfare in low- and middle-income countries,” said Steve Christensen, executive director of RBC. “In some of those regions, 50 percent of children have dangerously high blood lead levels due to exposure from consumer goods, industrial contamination, and improper recycling methods. This simply cannot continue.”  

Lead exposure results in a global 6% reduction in IQ levels and a nearly 60% increase in intellectual disabilities and accounts for 20% of the learning gap between high- and low-income countries, according to the PLF. It also leads to 1.5 million deaths annually from cardiovascular and renal diseases, surpassing tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS.

While efforts in high-income countries have successfully phased out lead in consumer products through regulations promoting cost-effective, lead-free alternatives and creating a robust closed-loop circular economy for lead vehicle batteries, the PLF will help meet the need for a global effort to promote responsible management and disposal of lead products. This UN-led initiative, based at UNICEF with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is the first global public-private partnership focused on eliminating childhood lead exposure in low- and middle-income countries. 

The RBC, formed in 2017, is a coalition of leading vehicle battery manufacturers, recyclers, retailers, and users dedicated to the responsible manufacturing, use, and reuse of vehicle and industrial batteries. 

RBC has launched and/or supports several battery recycling initiatives, including: 

• The 2 Million Battery Challenge seeks to create a 100% recycling rate for used vehicle batteries by encouraging consumers to bring their used batteries to participating auto parts retailers for recycling. Today, 99% of used vehicle batteries in North America are recycled, but the missing one percent equals approximately 2 million batteries annually. RBC’s retailer members alone recycled over 646,000 tons of batteries in 2023 across the United States. 
• Providing financial, logistical and transportation support to the Backhaul Alaska program, which retrieves spent lead-acid batteries from remote, subsistence-oriented Alaskan communities where the lack of proper waste management methods threatens public health and safety. That program has retrieved and recycled more than 540,000 pounds of lead-acid car, truck, snow machine, ATV, boat, tractor and other heavy equipment batteries from rural Alaskan communities since 2018.
• Educating Congress and federal agencies on the human and environmental threats posed by improper battery recycling, especially in developing countries, and encouraging support for USAID programs to reduce illicit lead recycling that leads to contamination in children and the environment. 

“The recycling of vehicle and industrial batteries is one of the great achievements in protecting public and environmental health,” said Dr. Ramon Sanchez, Sc.D., of the Harvard University Extension School and chair of the Responsible Battery Coalition’s Science Advisory Board. “Now, we are proud to support PLF as it takes action to address this threat on a global scale.” 

UNICEF and the USAID are convening public and private partners to launch the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future at the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 23, 2024. In-person capacity is limited and is subject to review and approval. Spanish and French translations will be offered at the event.

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About RBC

The RBC is a coalition of companies, academics, and organizations committed to the responsible management of the batteries of today and tomorrow. Members include: Advance Auto Parts, AutoZone, Clarios, FedEx, Honda, Li-Cycle and O’Reilly Auto Parts. RBC was created in April 2017 to advance the responsible production, transport, sale, use, reuse, recycling and resource recovery of transportation, industrial and stationary batteries and other energy storage devices. For more information: https://www.responsiblebatterycoalition.org/ 

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