Waste portable, industrial and automotive batteries and accumulators are sorted and sent to specific treatment plants.
Some batteries may contain heavy metals that are harmful to the environment and must be treated properly. Other recyclable metals such as nickel, lead, iron, zinc, cadmium, aluminium, manganese and lithium are recycled and reused by the industry as raw materials. For example, ferromanganese recovered from the shell of used batteries is reused in taps or for the manufacture of railway rails. The grey powder loaded with zinc is reused by manufactures of gutters or as rustproof paint.