Batteries

What About Alkali Batteries?

Regular, non-rechargeable (alkali) batteries are no longer considered a hazardous waste. Since 1996, manufacturers have removed 'virtually' all the mercury from these batteries. Older batteries do contain mercury and should be disposed of through a hazardous waste program.

It is possible to recycle alkali batteries. Nu Life Industries in Aldergrove, BC, breaks them down, cleans all the components, uses the alkali for wash water neutralization, and sends the plastic and metals for recycling.

(Source: September 2000 WasteWatch)

Environment Canada Calls for More Battery Recycling

On April 5, 2007, Environment Canada released the Canadian Consumer Battery Baseline Study, which reveals that the annual number of consumer batteries discarded is increasing dramatically, releasing a growing amount of dangerous substances into our land and water. The study concludes that Canadians will throw away 495 million batteries per year by 2010, up from 347 million in 2004. As part of the Chemicals Management Plan launched December 2006, Canada’s new government is committed to reducing releases of chemical substances that pose a risk to human health and the environment.

(Source: Env. Can. Press Release, in May 2007 WasteWatch)

A Batt Out of Hell — Mattel, Toys R Us to phase out cadmium batteries, citing toxicity

Toy giants Mattel and Toys R Us have announced they will phase out cadmium batteries due to their toxicity and the associated health problems they can cause at the factories in China that produce them. Scores of factory workers have been sickened by cadmium, which can cause lung cancer, bone disease, and kidney failure, but cadmium batteries are still used in toys like remote-controlled cars because they're cheaper to produce than less-toxic nickel-metal-hydride batteries. The phase-outs are part of the toy industry's wave of reassurance in the face of last year's epic toy recalls. Mattel said it would phase out cadmium batteries in its new products by the end of 2008 while Toys R Us said it would phase them out in products made exclusively for its stores, but didn't say whether it would restrict them in products sold at its stores made by other companies.

(Source: Grist in Feb. 2008 WasteWatch)

New EU battery disposal regulations

New European Union (EU) regulations effective February 1 require battery producers to be responsible for funding the collection and processing of scrap batteries. Regulations banning the disposal of batteries by landfill or incineration took effect January 1, 2010.

The new collection rules, which are part of the EU's battery directive, require that all producers of at least one metric ton of any kind of battery in a calendar year be responsible for paying for the collection and processing of their wares.

The U.K.'s battery recycling rates are among the worst in Western Europe - hovering at around three percent - and must be brought up to 25 percent by 2012, and 45 percent by 2016, to be in line with the EU Battery Directive mandates.

(Source: The latest electronic recycling news in February 2010 WasteWatch)

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