Recharge the environment – recycle batteries
Mercury reduction in batteries began in 1984 and continues today. Some batteries such as the alkaline battery have had about a 97 percent mercury reduction in the product. Newer alkaline batteries may contain about one-tenth the amount of mercury previously contained in the typical alkaline battery.
Some alkaline batteries have zero-added mercury, and several mercury-free, heavy-duty, carbon-zinc batteries are on the market. Mercuric-oxide batteries are being gradually replaced by new technology such as silver-oxide and zinc-air button batteries that contain less mercury.
Prevention of Household Battery Waste
To reduce waste, start with prevention. Starting with prevention creates less or no leftover waste to become potentially hazardous waste. The following are steps to take to prevent household battery waste.
- Check to see if you already have the batteries on hand before buying more.
- When suited to the task buy hand operated items that function without batteries.
- Look for the batteries that have less mercury and heavy metals.
- Consider rechargeable batteries for some needs, but remember that they also contain heavy metals such as nickel-cadmium and must be recycled.
Rechargeable Batteries
Rechargeable batteries result in a longer life span and use fewer batteries. However rechargeable batteries still contain heavy metals such as nickel-cadmium. When disposing of rechargeable batteries, recycle whenever possible.
The use of rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries can reduce the number of batteries entering the waste stream, but may increase the amount of heavy metals entering the waste stream unless they are more effectively recycled. As of 1992, the percentage of cadmium in nickel-cadmium batteries was higher than the percentage of mercury in alkaline batteries, so substitution might only replace one heavy metal for another, and rechargeable batteries do use energy resources in recharging. Rechargeable alkaline batteries are available along with rechargers.
Additional Tips for Longest Life Use of Batteries
- Turn off any battery-operated appliances when not in use
- Remove batteries from appliances if they are not going to be used for a long time.
- To prevent a potential safety hazard, do not mix old batteries with new ones. When old and new batteries are mixed, leaking or rupturing could occur, possibly resulting in injury or property damage
- Do not recharge a battery unless it is specifically marked rechargeable. Attempting to recharge a non-rechargeable battery can cause it to leak or rupture
- Do not dispose of batteries in a fire it may cause them to explode.
- Do not open battery casings
- Do not insert batteries backwards into any device
- Rechargeable batteries containing cadmium or lead should always be recycled.
As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments. The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.
fern
posted on August 23rd, 2007 at 8:07 am
I’ve tried before to recycle regular (not rechargeable) batteries at my local recycling center, but they will not accept them and have directed me to throw them in the trash.
kcnolady
posted on October 8th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
I’ve been trying to recycle batteries for the last several months. I have a box that I fill up, and I now have the kids adding their batteries to this box. My first trip out to recycle, I made several phone calls to recycling places, and was referred to my local Radio Shack. Radio Shack on Branham in San Jose, CA did take my bag of batteries to recycle (no car batteries please!) on that trip. However, my second recent trip to recycle household batteries was different. The same RadioShack store referred me over to OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware) to recycle; OSH did take my bag of batteries. So, it takes some diligence, persistence, and follow through to recycle batteries. But well worth the efforts! Please everyone, recycle your old batteries!