Africa’s clean energy transition is increasingly tied to a public health warning about lead exposure: as off-grid solar and battery storage expand, experts say demand is rising for lead-acid battery recycling—often in ways that can contaminate air, soil and water. In Kenya, residents of the Owino Uhuru settlement near the coastal city of Mombasa described lingering health impacts they associate with past lead-acid battery recycling activity.
Residents say toxic waste from a lead-acid battery recycling plant contaminated the soil and water around Owino Uhuru, leading to widespread illness. They linked the contamination to operations dating to 2007, when Kenya Metal Refineries EPZ ran a lead-acid battery recycling plant within the settlement, exporting processed lead to India before the facility shut down in 2014.
Faith Muthama, 40, told reporters that her health never recovered. She said, “Life has never been the same,” and added that she still struggles to do heavy chores because of breathing difficulties. Muthama also said that when she was tested in 2012, she was found with high lead levels in her blood.
Experts say similar risks are showing up across Africa as renewable energy adoption increases battery use. A February report by the Centre for Global Development warned that the rapid expansion of off-grid solar systems and battery storage—seen as critical to closing Africa’s energy access gap—is driving a sharp increase in demand for battery recycling, with much of that recycling taking place in informal or poorly regulated settings.
Lee Crawfurd, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Global Development who reviewed the report, said off-grid solar could account for a substantial share of batteries entering the recycling stream in Africa. Crawfurd also said the solar-driven demand would add to existing battery demand from vehicles such as cars and motorbikes, and he argued that “safe recycling is expensive,” creating incentives to do it unsafely.
The health impacts of lead exposure, experts said, include neurological damage and reduced cognitive development, with long-term effects that can be especially severe for children. Crawfurd described lead as a “silent threat,” saying it affects health, cognitive development and economic productivity, and he said that weak enforcement of environmental regulations in many countries makes the risk worse even when rules exist.
In Owino Uhuru, residents said the damage from the earlier plant has lasted for years, and some deaths have been linked to the pollution, according to the reporting. Alfred Ogulo, 70, described symptoms he said persist, telling reporters that he has nerve damage and limited mobility. He said he cannot walk without a stick and that he suffers from serious chest pain and a cough he associated with toxic fumes inhaled while the factory was operating.
Ogulo and other residents also pointed to a legal outcome and ongoing gaps in relief. In 2025, Kenya’s Supreme Court awarded about $12 million in damages to roughly 3,000 residents after they won a class-action lawsuit against the smelting company, in a rare legal victory for victims of industrial pollution. Activists said, however, that compensation has not arrived in time.
Phyllis Omido, who leads the Centre for Justice Governance and Environmental Action in Mombasa, said it was “sad that the state has ignored prioritizing the compensation payment as ordered by the court.” Mejumaa Hassan Nyanje, 60, said her family has been waiting while the company faced no similar follow-through, telling reporters, “Is it fair that we are the ones still chasing justice while the company walks away?”
Crawfurd said the solution involves making recycling safer rather than eliminating lead-acid batteries, adding that lead-acid batteries are widely used in many low-income markets because they cost less than alternatives such as lithium-ion batteries. He said producers and policymakers also need accountability across the entire supply chain, noting that some countries, including South Africa, have introduced producer responsibility systems, but assigning responsibility can be harder where many batteries are imported rather than produced locally.