For a couple of weeks now, two old cell phone batteries have been taking up space on our kitchen counter.  My husband and I got new batteries for our cell phones, but what to do with the old batteries? 

     I knew I couldn’t just throw them in the trash because they contain toxic metals and should be kept out of the environment.   Although tiny and innocuous-looking, they are classified ‘hazardous waste’ by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.   So safe disposal matters.

     I did a little research, and I am happy to report that getting rid of old cell phone batteries safely is actually quite easy.  An outfit known as the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) works with a variety of retailers and organizations to take all types of cell phone batteries:  nickel-cadmium (ni-cd), nickel metal hybrid (Ni-MH), and Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries.  Lowes, Home Depot, Staples, and many other retail chains offer a drop-off program.  Consumers can simply drop off their old cell phone batteries (and other household batteries as well, for that matter), and know that these batteries will be disposed of safely.  They will not be contributing to air pollution through incineration nor to contamination of groundwater through landfill disposal.

     But my research also informed me that while many retail chains have a policy of accepting old cell phone batteries, not all of their individual stores actually do.  To find a
site near you that actually does participate in the RBRC program, just click here:  http://www.ehso.com/ehso2.php?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rbrc.org/consumer/uslocate.html 

     Here, at the Call2Recycle website, you can enter your zip code to find the nearest stores and organizations that will accept your old cell phone batteries for safe treatment.  I live in a rural area, and I was pleasantly surprised that a large number of stores in the nearest big town of Harrisonburg, VA, popped up, along with phone numbers.  So I can check by phone to make sure these individual outlets actually do participate in the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation program.  Then I’ll just take the cell phone batteries (if I can remember!) with me next time I head down to Harrisonburg.  And since outlets that receive cell phone batteries also take AA, AAA, and other household batteries, I can just save up all used batteries to drop off on trips to Harrisonburg.–April Moore

This entry was posted on Monday, May 23rd, 2011 at 9:37 am and is filed under Act now to save our beloved Earth!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.