The globally growing demand for non-ferrous metals, combined with the growing incidence of alkaline cell waste, increases the importance of using concentrate from used alkaline cells as a source of Zn and Mn.

The waste from the alkaline cells is more difficult to handle, but because the material has comparable qualities to those of arc EAF dust, modifying arc furnace processing techniques and using zinc oxide intermediates is a viable ecological way to recycle this waste.