Does poor regulation lead to pollution? Key takeaways from a systematic review

Formal recycling of used lead acid batteries (ULAB) is a multibillion-dollar industry, valued at US$12.12 billion in 2024, and expected to grow to more than $26 billion within eight years. Demand for recycled lead (Pb) for new batteries grows in developing countries where costs limit the uptake of lithium-ion batteries. ULAB recycling in these regions poses significant danger to human health and the environment. Stringent regulatory approaches for ULAB recycling in developing countries, intended to reduce pollution, have thus far been ineffective as they typically do not adequately cover small-scale informal recycling in rural and remote communities. We examine what characterises effective environmental regulation for ULAB recycling in developing countries through the use of a systematic review of 85 papers covering three decades of literature from 1977 to 2023, and applied constructivist grounded theory-informed thematic analysis using NVivo 14 to code and analyse data. We generated three key frameworks that characterise regulatory conditions associated with effectiveness in developing countries: well-crafted policies, adequate governance mechanisms, and mitigation measures to avoid pollution. The results indicate that effective regulation emerges from complex interactions that are simultaneously flexible and structured, inclusive yet focused, and locally relevant while also considering global efforts to address pollution-related Sustainable Development Goals.