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Recycling batteries

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February 11, 2005

I know that there's been some question about what kind of batteries can be recycled, what you can throw away and what you need to consider hazardous waste. Well, I'd like to clear that up for you. Dry cell batteries are batteries like alkaline.

Wet cell batteries are batteries like the ones found in your car. Car batteries can be recycled any place that you can purchase them.

Batteries that are Hazardous are button batteries that are found in watches and hearing aids. If you have any of these you should hang onto them until the next Household Hazardous waste drop off day (we are in the process of scheduling right now, I promise I'll let you know when they are going to be!).

Batteries that are your everyday alkaline AA, AAA, C, and D variety are not recyclable. They can go right in the trash. There were some issues a few years ago because these batteries were still being produced with mercury in them. But now, they are no longer made with mercury. For the most part they say on the side that they do not contain mercury. There is a battery recycling program for alkaline batteries and it costs about $.85/Lb plus shipping and handling. You can find out more about this at www.batteryrecycling.com.

Rechargeable batteries can be recycled. These batteries should not be incinerated, so don' toss them into the fire at home, actually most batteries say they shouldn't be incinerated. Lithium batteries, like the ones that are used in some cameras, are also recyclable. Lead Batteries can be brought to be recycled. If you visit http://www.rbrc.com/consumer/uslocate.html you can find locations nearest you to bring your rechargeable batteries. I've ordered drop boxes for Saco but they won't be here for another month or so.

It's not always easy to recycle, but anything that we can keep out of the trash is a plus for the environment!

If you have any more questions about recycling batteries please let me know. And as usual I would love to hear what the public is up to with their recycling. You can contact me at aoliver@sacomaine.org.