DEAD BUT NOT THE END
Give old batteries new life by safely recycling them
When household batteries die, it's hard to know what to do with them. So, they get shoved into a junk drawer or sheepishly thrown into the trash.
But dead batteries can leak heavy metals like cadmium and nickel into soil and water in a landfill. Some can overheat and cause fires in garbage trucks and recycling centers.
Safely disposing batteries takes just a few steps. They get shipped to recycling centers that break down their contents to make new things.
Recycling processes could use some fine-tuning, but it's still a simple and responsible way to get rid of old batteries.
Recycling them "keeps you safe, keeps the waste industry safe, keeps the first responders safe and responsibly sees that battery reach a proper end of life," said Michael Hoffman, president of the National Waste and Recycling Association.
Effects add up
Batteries power many things in our homes, from alarm clocks and TV remotes to gaming controllers. Millions are bought and used every year in the U.S., according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
They have effects on the environment at nearly every stage of their life span.
Many of the materials used to make batteries — elements such as lithium and nickel — are mined. More than half of the world's cobalt reserves are in Congo.
Once mined, those materials are shipped around to be refined, fashioned into a battery and packaged for sale. All the ships, trucks and planes moving them add to batteries' carbon footprint. Making the batteries can release carbon emissions and pollution into the air and atmosphere, too.
Though household batteries are far smaller than the big ones that power EVs and electric bicycles, there are a lot more of them and it's worth figuring out how to get rid of them.
"One person's single battery is not necessarily a lot," said environmental scientist Jennifer Sun with Harvard University. "But everyone uses many batteries."
How to recycle
Wrangle up your old batteries and figure out what kind they are. Batteries "come in all shapes and sizes, but what's inside differs," said materials scientist Matthew Bergschneider of the University of Texas at Dallas.
Alkaline and zinc-carbon batteries are generally single-use and come in sizes AA, AAA and more. These can be safely thrown in the household trash in most places, but the EPA recommends recycling them.
Lithium-ion batteries — commonly found in things like power tools and cordless vacuums — are a fire risk and can leak toxic gases in garbage trucks and landfills. A lot of rechargeable batteries are lithium-ion, but more single-use batteries now are made this way, too.
Be sure to look up battery disposal laws for your area: Places like New York, Vermont and Washington, D.C., have special rules about throwing away household or rechargeable batteries.
Once you've corralled your batteries, tape their ends or put them in plastic bags to avoid the possibility of sparking.
Then, take them to a drop-off location. How easy or hard this is depends on where you live.
Many hardware and office supplies stores accept old batteries. Look into city and state drop-off programs or search by ZIP code using The Battery Network, a nonprofit geared toward safe battery recycling.
Have a location in your home to collect the batteries over time and then "at some point, hopefully among all the other things that we all have in our lives, you can find a convenient drop-off location," said Todd Ellis of The Battery Network.
If your batteries look swollen, are cracked or are leaking, don't drop them off. You'll need to get in touch with a hazardous waste removal agency to figure out how to turn them in.
Second chance
Batteries dropped off at a collection site are sorted by type, then taken to a recycling facility where they're broken down into their essential components — like cobalt, nickel or aluminum.
Some bits can be used to make new batteries or other things. Nickel, for example, can be used to make stainless steel products and alkaline batteries can be turned into sunscreen.
Safely recycling a battery doesn't cancel out the environmental cost of making it. Still, it gives the battery's components their best chance at becoming something new.
Recycling also reduces the need for more mining, said public health expert Oladele Ogunseitan, who studies electronic waste at the University of California, Irvine.
Good battery habits also are good for us. They protect against old or damaged batteries leaking toxic compounds into our cabinets and junk drawers.
"I think it's one of the simplest and most controllable actions that we can take to reduce our impact," Sun said.
