Construction of low-environmental-impact batteries and investigation of environmental impact assessment at the time of their disposal

Abstract

With the advancement of IoT technology, it is expected that sensors and devices containing large amounts of circuits and batteries will be dispersed into the environment, some of which will be left behind without being collected. However, the environmental impact of hazardous substances contained in these devices has not been adequately discussed. Therefore, we designed and evaluated low environmental impact batteries based on the material selection guidelines presented in the next section. We also conducted plant damage tests to evaluate the effects on plants when batteries containing high levels of chemical substances are disposed of in the environment. Furthermore, we evaluated the environmental impact of our low-environmental-impact batteries by analyzing the components contained in the batteries and commercial batteries, as well as by conducting the same evaluation for simulated waste that is assumed to be general waste.