Nickel-cadmium batteries are virtually 100% recyclable once they have been collected. Today, there are 9 major NiCd battery recycling plants located in the United States, Europe and Japan capable of recycling approximately 20,000 mt of industrial and consumer NiCd batteries and their manufacturing scraps. There is more than adequate capacity to recycle all NiCd batteries presently being collected.
National Collection and Recycling Associations (NCRAs) have been created around the world to promote the collection and recycling of all batteries, both from the general public and from industrial consumers. Some of them focus more specifically on rechargeable batteries and on NiCd batteries in particular. The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) organizes and promotes rechargeable battery collection in the United States and Canada (www.rbrc.com), while the Battery Association of Japan maintains similar rechargeable battery collection programs in Japan (www.baj.or.jp). Nickel-cadmium battery collection programs in Europe are now being organized and promoted by CollectNiCad (CNC) which maintains a complete listing of national collection organizations and recyclers throughout Europe (www.collectnicad.org).
The International Cadmium Association (ICdA) is a non-profit association representing the interests of the world’s cadmium industry. Its Members include producers, processors, recyclers and consumers of cadmium metal, cadmium compounds, and products to which cadmium or its compounds have intentionally been added.