Doing Battery Disposal Right
So you’ve just bought a great new battery for your laptop, cell phone, PDA, or other equipment from Laptops for Less. Your device is back in business. But what do you do with the old rechargeable battery that you’re replacing? Most of us have heard that proper battery disposal is important but don’t know quite how to do it.
Why Proper Disposal is Important
Most batteries contain a number of toxic chemicals. These often include heavy metals like nickel, lead, cadmium, and mercury. Not exactly great for the environment – or human health, for that matter. When batteries are incinerated, they can be released into the air. The materials from a battery placed in a landfill can seep out into soil and water, polluting lakes and streams and entering our water supply. Plus, if it’s a matter of choosing between recycling a battery and leaving it to take up space in a landfill forever, the environmentally-friendly choice is pretty clear.
Proper disposal generally involves recycling, which is especially important for any rechargeable battery, since it almost certainly contains metals that are precious natural resources. Reclaiming these metals through recycling means that we are stripping the earth of fewer important materials.
How to Dispose of a Battery
First of all, be careful; batteries can be dangerous. Don’t put multiple batteries in one storage container. You can place each battery in a separate plastic bag or carefully place heavy-duty tape over each battery’s terminals.
Next, locate a disposal site in your area. Check out their website to learn about the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation and find one of their drop-off locations near you. RBRC will recycle any rechargeable batteries, including nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, lithium ion, nickel zinc, and small sealed lead types. That means that batteries from most any portable device are fair game. And disposing of your batteries with the RBRC is completely free.
The obvious next step: drop off your battery. And then, feel like a bit of a hero. After all, you just saved natural resources, avoided pollution, and kept something out of a landfill. Good work!
