We all use batteries, although they don’t last forever. That leaves us with a problem of what to do with old batteries that are run ‘flat’. We shouldn’t actually ask ourselves can THAT battery go in the trash, because the answer should be ‘none’, especially nowadays.
Why Can’t All My Batteries Go In The Trash?
We are basically dealing with two types of batteries here. The first kind use relatively harmless materials, and are often of the alkaline variety.
The others use toxic chemicals that can pollute our drinking water and soil. Some contain flammable liquids that can burn and even explode.
Now we can take our precautions to ensure these chemicals stay safe inside battery cases. Although not all lithium-ion batteries are completely safe, because some are not made to the same high safety standards we expect.
However, no battery should go in our trash, because our local council treats trash mechanically after they collect it. First, they compact the trash under high pressure in garbage trucks. And then they may compress much of it further at landfill sites.
However, the deeper reason why THAT battery cannot go in the trash, is there are people driving those garbage trucks, and working at landfills. Those toxic chemicals can harm them if the cases break open. They could also pollute our drinking water and our soil for hundreds of years …
All Trash Batteries Need Specialist Treatment
Clearly, we should not throw used batteries in our trash. But there is another reason that we believe really clinches the argument:
- The chemicals in the batteries we use are from earth’s crust. This makes it expensive to access them.
- Many of these materials are also rare and expensive. Some are not available in our own countries.
- Therefore, it just makes more sense to ‘mine’ our used batteries to recycle their materials.
This is the logic behind local councils asking us to hand our used batteries over separately for recycling. Those are all good reasons why THAT battery should not, and cannot, just go in the trash.
More Information
40% of Nasty Landfill Chemicals from Batteries
