Energize your day! Today, February 18th, is National Battery Day and in celebration we’d like to share some tips on how to recycle your old batteries. Did you know that only 10 to 12 percent of the 70 million pounds of batteries sold yearly in North America are recycled?
What should you do with those dead batteries just laying around?
For lithium-ion and other rechargeable household batteries:
- Prepare your batteries: place each battery in its own clear plastic bag before placing it in a storage container. Avoid taping the terminals, but make sure the terminals don’t touch during transport.
- Bring your ID and individually-bagged batteries to your local disposal site.
- For those of us in the Hillsborough County area, we have four options (listed here: https://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/en/residents/property-owners-and-renters/trash-and-recycling/discarding-batteries)
For single-use batteries (such as AA, AAA, C, D, and 9-volt), the best option is to recycle them through Call2Recycle’s battery recycling kits as most local locations don’t accept these. For information on this, visit: https://www.call2recycle.org/store/.
An even better option is to use rechargeable batteries. Nearly one in five dry-cell batteries (like those single-use batteries listed above) purchased in the United States is rechargeable. Each rechargeable battery may substitute for hundreds of single-use batteries.
When it comes to battery recycling, channel that pink bunny we all know and love and just keep going, and goi- well, you know the rest!
