Reprinted with permission from Lane County Waste Management
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If you live and watch TV in America, then you'e seen that pink bunny advertising the battery that "keeps going and going and going." While it's true that modern alkaline batteries have a longer life expectancy than their ancestors of just a few years ago, no battery keeps on going forever. Whether you use the most expensive brand or the cheapest, that bunny'll stop beating its little drum sooner or later. What happens next, though, is up to you. If you're like a lot of folks, you'll head for the Drawer of Mystery, where way in the back, behind the rubber bands, old receipts, dried out pens and odd coat buttons, you'll find a few loose batteries. Are they fresh? Dead? Who can remember? And what to do with the dead batteries you just took out? Let's see -- they're hazardous waste, right? Or are they recyclable? Garbage? And so it is that they go back into the Drawer of Mystery. Who's got time for this?
Relax. There are answers to all these questions, and one thing you can do to avoid them almost completely. If you'd like to be able to buy fewer batteries, save money and create less waste, use rechargeable batteries. They can be re-energized over and over, so you spend less on batteries. Because you can reuse them many times, you don't have to throw them away -- or throw out the packaging they came in -- as often. Yes, there's an initial investment, since rechargeable's cost more to buy, and you'll need a charging unit. However, it's easy to see that one set of rechargeable batteries can replace several sets of standard dry cell batteries, because the rechargeable's can be re-energized many times. In addition, some types are even recyclable when they finally give up the bunny uh, the ghost.
One thing you will notice, if do some research on the subject, is that there are several types of rechargeable batteries available. The next thing you will notice is that each type has advocates who claim it to be far superior to all the others. While there are certain specialized uses that require a specific type of battery for the best service, there are some simple guidelines to help you choose. Anyway, in almost all cases any of the various types of rechargeable's will prove better than standard non-rechargeable alkaline's. Here are a few tips to help you make the best choice:
· Ni-Cd or NiMH Batteries. For devices that get regular use, nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) or nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries are good choices. Because they do lose their charge when they sit idle, though, they may not be best choices for items like that flashlight you keep in the car "just in case." By the time you need to use the flashlight, there may be little or no charge left in the batteries. The good news: Ni-Cd and NiMH rechargeable's can withstand hundreds or even thousands of charge/discharge cycles before they must be retired, so for items like radios, pagers and personal stereos, either type is a good choice. Oh, and the dreaded "memory effect?" More good news: in newer generation Ni-Cds, the effect can be detected only by sophisticated measuring equipment. You won't notice it.
So what about the proper disposal of spent batteries? First, a little background. Under Oregon law, alkaline batteries sold in the state since cannot contain mercury - the most hazardous component in older generation alkaline batteries. Thus, the alkaline batteries you've bought since then are not a hazardous waste. However, other types of batteries like Ni-Cd rechargeable's, lithium batteries and other specialized types like silver oxide and button cells are hazardous when they are thrown away because they do contain toxic compounds. Again, there's good news. Ni-Cd, silver oxide and mercury cells can be efficiently recycled and the hazardous heavy metals reclaimed and used in new products. Lithium cells aren't recyclable, but instead are destroyed at permitted hazardous waste incinerators. Take Ni-Cd, NiMH, lithium, silver oxide, lead acid and mercury cells to the recycling area of any Lane County transfer site for proper disposal or recycling. The alkaline batteries that just went dead in your radio? Ironically, the mercury used in the old alkaline's was the most valuable component. With the mercury gone, there's little worth recovering, so spent alkaline's are trash - another great reason to use rechargeable's!
For more information on battery recycling and disposal, contact the Lane County Special Waste Program at (541) 682-.
Photo: Michael Murtaugh
For more information, please visit flashlight battery recycling.
If you&#;re jaded about the recycling industrial complex&#;and perhaps rightfully so&#;you might feel unmotivated to spend your time, energy, and possibly money on battery recycling. But you have several good reasons to do so.
For one, it&#;s safer than just dumping them in the trash. Improperly disposing of batteries can cause fires or explosions. Not only are you putting your own household in harm&#;s way when you toss batteries in the garbage, but you could be unwittingly risking the safety of sanitation workers who come into contact with your trash after it leaves your doorstep.
Even though some municipalities allow residents to put certain types of batteries in the trash, such as alkaline or carbon-zinc batteries, we still recommend recycling them. It&#;s simpler than trying to remember which batteries go where, and (even with this handy EPA guide) it&#;s easy to misread the fine print and confuse one battery type with another.
Trashing your batteries is also bad for local ecosystems. When batteries and other items containing heavy metals or other toxic materials end up in a landfill, they often leach harmful chemicals into local soil and water systems. But more often than not, nonferrous metals&#;the kind commonly used to make batteries and other electronics&#;are destined for the trash. For example, in , about 3.4 million tons of aluminum, nickel, zinc, and other nonferrous metals were landfilled, whereas just 2.4 million tons were recycled.
Likewise, batteries may contain metals that can be salvaged and made into new electronics, reducing the overall need to mine more raw materials. This is good for consumers, since mining bottlenecks can lead to shortages that hike up the cost of electronics. Plus, the metal-mining industry has a long track record of human rights violations and is by far the biggest source of toxic chemicals released into the environment annually in the US.
Fortunately, it takes far less energy to recycle most metals than it does to produce them. Metal is highly energy-intensive to mine and process for manufacturing, but it&#;s generally one of the easiest materials to recycle. And unlike plastic and paper, which degrade each time they&#;re handled, metals can be recycled indefinitely.
Another great reason to recycle your batteries? It might encourage you to visit a new small business in your community. For example, until I saw it listed on Call2Recycle, I was unaware of a store near me called The Dinosaur Farm that specializes in dinosaur-related toys, books, and other paleontological paraphernalia. Lesson learned: Recycle your batteries, and avoid missing out on dinosaur-themed toy stores.
This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.
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