A Short Guide to Reduce the Disposal of Hazardous Waste to the Environment, a.k.a. Batteries.

By: Celina Yang

One thing I can say I definitely learned while working at a retail store besides pushing six carts at once is the amount of everyday products sold, especially batteries. Since batteries are usually locked up with security tags, whenever customers need to purchase a pack of batteries, an employee needs to open it for them. I never noticed this information until I saw a random fact on the internet about how Americans buy over 3 billion batteries. This wasn’t the part that surprised me; it was the fact that only 5% of them are recycled. The idea that over 2850000000 batteries were just thrown away definitely gave me something to think about.

Significance

The significance is that I never even personally thought about where batteries taken out of my watch and remote controls were being disposed to. Batteries are hazardous to the environment when disposed of improperly because they contain many toxic chemicals, including sulphuric acid, mercury, lead, lithium, and more, depending on the type. According to CA. gov, “Batteries are considered hazardous waste in California when discarded. This includes AAA, AA, C, D, button cell, 9-volt, and all other batteries, both rechargeable, and single-use.”

Action

Although battery recycling programs may not be as accessible as plastic bags or cans, there are collecting centers in places such as Home Depot where batteries can be dropped off and recycling programs such as the AquaMetals. Another way is to buy rechargeable batteries to help reduce the disposal of batteries ultimately.

Resources:

https://calrecycle.ca.gov/reducewaste/batteries/#:~:text=Batteries%20are%20considered%20hazardous%20waste,both%20rechargeable%20and%20single%2Duse.

https://www.biggreenbox.com/

https://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/reducewaste/Power/RechBattInfo/

https://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/ReduceWaste/Power/AltPower/