Batteries are not easy to recycle and most go to landfills with devastating results to our health and the environment. Batteries contain a number of poisonous substances.

 
A toxic cocktail of leftover compounds produced by degrading and oxidizing chemicals such as plastics, oils, acids, paints, batteries, etc. Together, these chemicals react with each other and form further toxic emissions of substances including heavy metals. These pollutants are damaging our soils and slowly being released into the water table with irreversible damage. Some waste stations are aware of the seriousness of this issue and in recent years have begun to take action by collecting those chemicals after rainfall for further treatment.

 

Car and motorbike batteries are recyclable, just ask your car wrecking business and other recyclers who recycle the lead. For smaller batteries, no recovery system is in place, you could always return them to the shop you have purchased them from.

Make sure the battery has a recycling symbol printed on the battery before purchase. Manufacturers have recently formed a committee to examine these issues and changes are in the wind. Let’s hope there are viable alternatives available soon. One way to address this problem is by avoiding buying cheap bulk batteries, which expire swiftly, instead use rechargeable batteries at every opportunity. Non-rechargeable batteries cost an average of $1.00 while Ni-MH (Nickel-Metal Hydride) batteries can be recharged up to 1,000 times. Four batteries will cost you $16.00, which means that each use per battery will only cost you 0.004¢. Furthermore, they can be recycled, saving you money and saving our environment.