Abstract
While in recent years, lithium-ion batteries have become indispensable to our daily lives, on the other hand, fires and other such incidents have been on the increase at municipal bulk and non-combustible waste management facilities and at other recycling facilities. Although lithium-ion batteries are subject to voluntary collection under the Act for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources, there are many issues within this that still need to be addressed, including items not covered by the Act, battery-integrated products, and lack of collection rate targets. With regard to the material flow of lithium-ion batteries, information on the destination is limited in relation to the Ministry of the Environment (MoE)’s estimate of annual waste discharge for approximately 16000 tons (in 2019). This shows that the accuracy of estimating amounts of lithium-ion batteries entering waste management facilities needs to be improved. Against the backdrop of fires and other incidents, the MoE compiled the Collection of Countermeasures for Lithium-ion Batteries and Other Difficult-to-Treat Materials based on a survey of discharge conditions and advanced examples from local governments, while the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has also studied the desirable form of the Act. The need to review the responsibility and significance of recovery considering safety assurance is discussed as a future challenge.
