|  | Public Health Safety | Environmental Health

Battery Recycling & Rejuvenation

According to Earth 911, 3 billion single-use batteries are sold each year. These 3 billion batteries are used for everything from toys to smoke detectors. Each individual in the United States alone discards about eight dry-cell or single-use batteries per year. When these batteries are disposed of improperly, they can cause severe environmental toxicity.

  1. Types of Batteries

    • Single-use batteries are just one of many different types of batteries out on the market. There are also rechargeable batteries. The sizes and power of the different battery types vary as well. According to Battery Recycling, for single-use batteries there are about five different categories including alkaline, zinc air, carbon-zinc, lithium manganese, and silver oxide. There are also four major categories for rechargeable batteries including nickel-cadmium batteries, lithium-ion, lead acid, and nickel-metal batteries.

    Discarding of Used Batteries

    • According to Earth 911, the Battery Act was issued in 1996 to ensure proper collecting of and recycling or disposal of batteries. All batteries should be recycled if possible. However, this may not always be as reasonable to do. Many cities recycle most types of batteries. If the battery is not recyclable, many of these cities have special retailers who will dispose of them properly. Such batteries would be lithium-ion batteries which are harder to locate and recycle and must be first sold back to a manufacturer.

    Recycling Used Batteries

    • If your community doesn't have a convenient way of recycling batteries, contact Battery Solutions, an organization that provides support for battery recycling programs.

    Rejuvenation of Batteries

    • According to Earth 911, out of the 180,000 tons of batteries discarded, 14,000 tons are rechargeable. Rechargeable batteries can be used in many of the same products that single-use batteries are used in. The benefit of using rechargeable batteries instead of the single-use ones are mainly economic but it also reduces the amount of single-use batteries thrown out each year. There are many battery chargers and rechargers out on the market today which will allow you to continue your use of your rechargeable batteries.

    Benefits to the Environment

    • The Environmental Protection Agency set up the Universal Waste Regulation to make it easier for the public to recycle and dispose of hazardous wastes. By setting up this program, wastes which are toxic such as mercury, lead and pesticides are being kept out of landfills and out of the water system.

    Economic Benefits

    • By recycling used batteries, we are able to remove the metals within them which can often be used again once it is recycled properly. A survey done by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 found that lead batteries are the most recycled product at almost a 100 percent recycling rate. Recycling these products not only ensures our environmental health but also saves the public money by decreasing the amount of toxic waste that must be cleaned up.

Environmental Health - Related Articles