Proper way to dispose of batteries?

[BrotherBear]

Hey folks, I've got a bunch of dead alkaline batteries in a double-ziplock freezer bag. Some of them have started to leak but they are contained in the ziplock bag. What's the proper way to dispose of these I was always under the impression I shouldn't toss them in the trash. Right now I have about 100 or so of them from C, D, AA, AAA, and 9-Volt. I tried calling my local municipality and they acted like I was insane for saving them.

[Elgama]

do you have a place that recycles them?

[Jbs2763]

If you live in Philly you can throw them at Santa

[BrotherBear]

do you have a place that recycles them?

Evidently not, at least from a local government perspective Seems like a big waste just to toss them.

[WindRiver]

As far as I know, they do not pose a real threat to the environment like some other batteries that may contain cadmium, mercury etc. Also my research indicates that even if you take alkaline batteries to a recycling center they end up being buried in the landfill anyway. Only batteries containing heavy metals and other highly toxic substances have to be treated as hazardous waste.

The recycle aspect mainly applies to Lead Acid (car batteries) and batteries designed specifically as rechargeable such as nickel cadmium, lithium, nickel metal hydride etc. In many states it is illegal to throw THOSE types of batteries in the trash. A few states regulate the disposal of alkalines (Calif. for example) but in my view they have gone too far in the case of alkalines.

You can however recharge them several times using special alkaline chargers which reduces the bulk aspect of throwing them in the trash since you would throw away fewer batteries over time if you recharge them. I have been doing that for years. You do need to let them sit for a while, like a week after you recharge them because sometimes they will start to leak and you don't want to put a leaking one in a device. Once a leak shows up, throw it away. I also never leave recharged alkalines in the device. I install them, use it then take them out. I have saved a ton of money this way over the last 10 years.

According to several sources they are not classified as a hazardous waste and will break down in the soil over time. You can throw them in the regular house trash in most places without breaking any laws or endangering the environment.

There May Be No Need to Recycle Alkaline Batteries

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There May Be No Need to Recycle Alkaline Batteries

by Will on November 9, 2007

From: www.freeimages.co I have worried for several years about all the odd items that should be recycled, but normally just go in to the household trash. A recent post and its comments touched on this subject. Thinking we could do more to recycle all the alkaline batteries our family goes through each year, I started making phone calls and doing some research. What I discovered really surprised me!

Most of what you find on the internet supported my belief that, ideally all batteries should be recycled. But, it seems that most of what I found on the internet is incorrect and outdated information. It turns out that maybe we can be less concerned about throwing our alkaline batteries in the trash than I had thought.

My education started with a call to a local battery store asking them if I could save alkaline batteries and bring them in to them for recycling. They said “no” and that “recycling alkaline batteries was not necessary”. They do accept rechargeable batteries for recycling. I contacted a national chain, Batteries Plus, and was told the same thing.

Here is what I found on the Duracell Battery web site:

“Alkaline batteries can be safely disposed of with normal household waste. Due to concerns about mercury in the municipal solid waste stream, Duracell has voluntarily eliminated all of the added mercury from its alkaline batteries since 1993 — while maintaining the performance you demand. Our alkaline batteries are composed primarily of common metals — steel, zinc and manganese — and do not pose a health or environmental risk during normal use or disposal.”

The Energizer web site says: “Energizer recommends recycling rechargeable, but not alkaline batteries, even indicating that alkaline batteries can safely go to city incinerators.”

I even found a couple of sites that said that if you bring alkaline batteries to recycling centers or events, they are separated from the rechargeables and typically end up in the landfill or incinerator anyway.

Some organizations are quite blunt in their information. The Consumer Electronics Association Question and Answer Website says: “Alkaline batteries are not recyclable. They’ll just be thrown out in a landfill, or at the most a hazardous waste landfill.”

I found only one company that says they recycle alkaline batteries, but I saw another web site that mentioned this same company and said they store most of their collected alkaline batteries in underground concrete bunkers, waiting for the day when the materials in them can be recovered with more cost effective methods.

In summary, because alkaline batteries no longer contain mercury and because of the small amount of recoverable metals in them, they are not typically recycled. Some claims are made that using regular alkaline batteries is actually better environmentally than using rechargeables. I have trouble with this claim, but the reasoning behind it is this. Rechargeable batteries can contain mercury, cadmium, lead, and lithium. There are environmental impacts associated with the manufacture of rechargeable batteries. Many rechargeable batteries do end up being tossed into the regular trash by people who are either unaware that they should be recycled, or feel it is just too much trouble to do so.

It appears the reality is this… Alkaline batteries do not contain as many toxic components as I had thought. They do, however contain metals like nickel, cobalt, zinc, manganese, and silver. At this time there are no real cost effective methods available to recover these metals. In addition, many claims are made that these common metals pose no environmental threat when disposed of with normal household trash.

I think it might take a while for me to get used to this reality. I would still be worried if your community uses an incinerator to dispose of trash as the metals from the batteries might end up in the air. I do think I will be able to feel less guilty when I do toss out expended alkaline batteries in our trash which goes to a landfill. I will continue to make sure any rechargeable batteries or car batteries we use up get recycled, but I may have to revise my thinking and get off my high horse when it comes to alkaline batteries.

Let me know what you think and feel free to include links to information I might have missed. Recycling is an important and visible issue and we need to make sure we have our facts right!

Edited January 3, 2010 by WindRiver

[BrotherBear]

Thanks. I ended up tossing them but I had saved them for a reason. AFAIK they still do contain trace amounts of heavy metals and I think it rather flippant to just toss them. Also, I understand most of them to be non-ferrous and obviously non-magnetic leading to a lack of ease of extraction. I understand that magnesium, zinc, and carbon are all naturally occurring but I'm so apprehensive about just tossing them. I guess it's just a lack of education on my part.

[Jbs2763]

i've honestly never thought about not tossing them out.... car batteries yeah....but AAs? nah..just throw them in the can

[FairChild]

Where do you get rid of your trash? Call and ask them how do they want it handled. Also the town hall may know.

[Choseph]

Be careful Bro .. some states have laws that regulate alkaline disposal somewhat strictly. That said, I say just toss them and let Mother Earth take care of them and their contents. IMHO, everything is organic and can return to the earth just fine.

Choseph

[jadams_4040]

From my understanding yer supposed to put them in the office drinking water dispenser. {just kidding!}

[Jbs2763]

ya know a quick glance at this topic..it looks like "proper way to dispose of BODIES"