Bringing down tax and providing subsidies can help decrease lead pollution that has the potential to harm the mental and physical health of people, as well as contaminate the environment, according to a study by researchers at the Indian Institutes of Technology - Madras and Kanpur. The study, published in the journal Resources, Conservation and Recycling, used a system dynamics model to explore the implications of economic policies quantitatively on the recycling of used lead-acid batteries.

Lead is used in various industries such as paints, cosmetics, dyes, ammunition, and jewellery, among numerous others, but the battery sector remains the major consumer of this metal by utilising 85 per cent of the production. While recycling is a good way to deal with scarcity as well as pollution, proper recycling of lead is still a concern due to mushrooming of the unregulated battery recycling sector alongside the regulated ones.