A Safer Way to Toss Batteries Boston MA

Cordless tools, wireless phones and laptop computers are just some of the devices that work better and longer as battery manufacturers produce increasingly more powerful rechargeable batteries. As good as they are, however, the advanced chemistry of these batteries makes them toxic to the environment when their life is done. Throwing rechargeable batteries in the trash means they will eventually leak heavy metals like cadmium and lead into landfills and then into groundwater.

To ensure proper disposal of these potentially harmful products, a group of battery and battery-powered device manufacturers formed the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation in 1994. Based in Atlanta, RBRC is a non-profit corporation that collects rechargeable batteries from consumers, retailers and industry and recycles them into elements that can be reused in new batteries and other products. RBRC recycles four types of battery chemistries: nickel cadmium (Ni-Cad), nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH), lithium ion (Li-ion) and small sealed lead (Pb). Since 1995, for example, RBRC has recycled about 20 million pounds of small Ni-Cad batteries.

Because the recycling program is funded by manufacturers, consumers pay nothing to drop off their batteries at a recycling center. This summer, Home Depot joined the RBRC program and agreed to have RBRC collection boxes at all its retail stores. To find a recycling center near you, call 800-8-BATTERY or check the RBRC website: www.rbrc.org

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