Easy Guide to Battery Recycling

Three billion. That's the approximate number of dry cell batteries purchased in the United States each year. From cell phones, cordless tools, and digital cameras, to children's toys galore, almost anything in your house that blinks, beeps, or buzzes is powered by batteries. With so many gadgets and tools using batteries, it's easy to get complacent and just throw spent batteries in the trash. This is a quick and easy guide to understanding why and how you can recycle those batteries instead of tossing them.

Why Recycle

Batteries utilize a chemical reaction that produces an electrical current. Over time this reaction slows down and the battery loses its charge. Even though the chemical reaction within the battery has run its course, the metals and chemicals used for the reaction are still present within the battery casing.

Many batteries contain toxic metals such as nickel, cadmium, lead, silver, and in some cases even mercury. When batteries are improperly disposed of these toxic metals can leach out of the batteries and get into streams and groundwater. If batteries are thrown into the trash in an area where trash is incinerated, these same toxic metals can volatilize into the air, creating a potential health hazard to those living and working nearby.

Where to Recycle

Most communities now have recycling programs where residents can put their recyclable materials such as metal, plastic, and paper into a bin that gets picked up on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, batteries are not allowed into these bins in most communities so some planning is needed to properly dispose of those used batteries. Some possible locations for disposal are:

1. Local household hazardous waste (HHW) collection days. Some cities and counties run programs where
residents can bring hazardous chemicals such as paint, gasoline, oil, pesticides, and batteries to be
collected and disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner. Check with you local and county
authorities to see if an HHW program is available for your community.
2. Call 2 Recycle has over 30,000 collection containers across the country where batteries can be dropped
off. You can go to http://www.call2recycle.org/ and search for a location near you.
3. Best Buy and Office Depot can accept rechargeable batteries. If neither of these is local to you
http://1800recycling.com/ is a source for finding a drop off location for almost any kid of recyclable good.

Give it a Try

When you next find yourself replacing batteries in any of your household gadgets, tools, or toys, remember to set the spent batteries aside for a recycling drop off. Not only will you save some of the raw materials that go into producing batteries, you can feel better knowing that your old batteries are adding to the pollution of our air and waters.

Source use for this article:

http://www.epa.gov/wastes/partnerships/stewardship/products/batteries.htm
http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/materials/battery.htm
http://www.call2recycle.org/
http://www.batteryrecycling.com/
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/null/Recycling-Electronics/pcmcat149900050025.c?id=pcmcat149900050025&DCMP=rdr0001422