USED ELECTRIC MOTORS AND BATTERIES OF HYBRID CARS

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USED ELECTRIC MOTORS AND BATTERIES OF HYBRID CARS: **

(Recycling): **

43.

Mr Siew Kum Hong asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether there is a programme or mechanism in place for the recycling of electric motors and batteries used in hybrid cars and, if not, what will happen to such batteries when the hybrid cars are scrapped.

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Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: In Singapore, when a car is scrapped, most of the car components are recycled. The lead acid batteries used in non-hybrid cars are sent to approved facilities for recycling or disposal, as required under the Environmental Public Health (Toxic Industrial Wastes) Regulations.

A petrol hybrid car has an electric motor in addition to a petrol engine, and uses a nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery in addition to a lead acid battery. The electric motor in a hybrid car is made of steel and copper which are recovered for recycling. The nickel metal hydride batteries are not toxic and are safe for general disposal. The current practice is that the car distributor collects the spent and defective nickel metal hydride batteries and sends them back to Japan for recycling as part of its service package.

To minimise the disposal of batteries at our disposal facilities, the National Environment Agency is currently studying ways to promote recycling of the various types of batteries.