Battery Recycling

The Importance of Battery Recycling For Our Future

What do you do when your batteries are dead? How do you get rid of rechargeable electronics when they no longer hold a charge? Battery recycling is mandated in many areas, but consumers don’t always understand the process. If your hauler tells you not to put batteries in your recycling bin, you probably think they have to go into the trash instead. It’s not that simple.

Each year, Americans dispose of billions of batteries. Of those batteries, the majority are single-use batteries, but there are also rechargeable batteries ending up in landfills. Despite having programs in place to recycle batteries, people may not know where to go or how to safely get rid of them. It’s important to learn what to do with your used batteries. Tossing them out is harmful to future generations. It’s estimated that the exteriors of most batteries take 100 years to decompose. At that point, the metals and chemicals inside enter the soil or groundwater.

Batteries contain toxic materials like cadmium, lead, lithium, mercury, nickel, silver, and sulfuric acid. The Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act of 1996 ended the use of mercury in batteries, but some button cells still have mercury in them.

They can all end up in the groundwater and soil if they’re not recycled. Lined landfills protect the environment, but liners they are not always used.

Try to recycle your batteries to help save the future of Earth.