Can we talk about how I used to throw rechargeable batteries in the trash?

Yeah I know, dumb move. Up until 2021 I was just tossing old AA and AAA rechargeables into the regular garbage. Never thought about it. Then my buddy who works at the county dump told me those things leak heavy metals into the ground water. Now I drive 15 minutes to the hazardous waste facility every 3 months with a shoebox full of dead batteries. Anyone else not realize how bad that was until someone called them out on it?

2 comments

2 Comments

adam_butler389d ago

I used to throw rechargeable batteries in the trash" - ok, I gotta be the annoying guy here for a second. I still toss regular alkaline batteries in the trash and I honestly don't lose sleep over it. For rechargeables, yeah I get it, they have different stuff inside. But the ground water thing sounds a little alarmist to me unless you're literally dumping 50 of them in a pile every week. Most landfills are lined now anyway. Not saying I'm right, just that I looked into this once after my brother gave me a similar lecture and found out the actual risk is way smaller than people make it sound. You're a better person than me for driving 15 minutes though.

phoenixb669d ago

Read something a while back from this guy who actually tested battery leakage in different conditions. He buried regular alkalines in a bucket of dirt for a year and the metal migration was basically nothing, like less than what's in a multivitamin or whatever. Not saying that's a scientific study or anything, just that it made me less worried about tossing them. I figure if the whole recycling thing was that critical, they'd have drop off boxes at every grocery store like they do for plastic bags. The rechargeable ones though, I do feel different about those. Those have lithium and stuff that's actually reactive if it gets crushed in a garbage truck. That's the only reason I bother with those, the fire risk more than the ground water thing.