[patrickg_zill]

Not sure what you mean exactly, but lead acid battery recycling is something like 95% effective in terms of what is recovered, and lead can be easily recycled multiple times. Lithium being more expensive is also well known for being able to be recycled.

[Kayou]

What I meant was that back in the old days, people didn't bother as much to recycle things, so lead batteries ended up thrown away in the nature. Of course today we recycle a lot more, so it would be less of a problem.

[pbhjpbhj]

In what geography, any evidence? Those who lived through the wars and depression(s), and baby-boomers, are notorious for their frugality and reuse.

[Kayou]

Where I live (european country) people used to throw away things in a big dump and then it would be burned or something, but now you have to separate things. I don't have any evidence of it though. Maybe they were recycling it themselves for all this time!