Battery Disposal & Recycling

Every year over two billion used batteries are disposed into solid waste facilities in the United States. This is an increasing problem, fundamentally due to the extensive development in the field of new technologies that made possible that almost virtually virtually everyone owns at least a wireless electronic device that uses diverse types of batteries. Think of the millions of laptops, digital camcorders, cell phones, wireless hand tools, flash lights, toys, etc. sold in the market just within the recent past years & you’ll see the real environmental challenge of disposal & recycling ahead of us.

Most parts of chemical ingredients used for making batteries are highly toxic & require a consistent treatment in which we, as users who care about the environment, can do our part avoiding that used batteries are thrown away with other household waste.

When improperly disposed, heavy metals have the potential to leach slowly into soil or groundwater. Batteries contribute over eighty percent of the total mercury & over fifty percent of the cadmium in solid waste streams. Right. When burned, heavy metals like mercury? may vaporize & escape into the air.

We also can contribute to reduce hazardous waste, starting with prevention and, for instance, check if you have on hand used batteries before purchasing more.

Batteries are constantly being formulated & improved, so we can check the labels & look for batteries that have less mercury & heavy metals.

You should consider using rechargeable batteries in more power intensive devices, depending on the specific use, this may be a better option than using disposable batteries, it will also bring environmental & financial benefits.

David C. is the author of the Rechargeable Battery blog, you can read more about rechargeable batteries at http://www.myrechargeablebattery.com