Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Incubator Q&A

Welcome to the staging ground for new communities! Each proposal has a description in the "Descriptions" category and a body of questions and answers in "Incubator Q&A". You can ask questions (and get answers, we hope!) right away, and start new proposals.

Are you here to participate in a specific proposal? Click on the proposal tag (with the dark outline) to see only posts about that proposal and not all of the others that are in progress. Tags are at the bottom of each post.

What can I do with used disposable batteries? Question

+2
−2

What can I do with used up disposable batteries, such as AA/AAA?

It used to be that these had to be separated so they can be put through a special remediation process. However, apparently that was driven by heavy metals used in the batteries, and nowadays they don't use the heavy metals anymore, so apparently many places just send them to the landfill. However, even without heavy metals, they do have some significant chemical content in them.

Is it reasonable to just throw these into the regular trash? Or is there some better alternative?

I live in the US and my area does not have any requirements about battery disposal. I asked the city and they told me that just dumping it in the garbage bin is fine.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

1 comment thread

Geographically specific (2 comments)

3 answers

You are accessing this answer with a direct link, so it's being shown above all other answers regardless of its score. You can return to the normal view.

+1
−0

I asked the city and they told me that just dumping it in the garbage bin is fine.

I doubt you're going to have a more authoritative answer than that. I take mine to the help desk at Staples or the local hardware store, but I think it's part of a program set up by the local government.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

0 comment threads

+3
−0

In Sweden (and probably most of Europe?) you simply hand them in for the battery recycling at your local recycling station.

People would get shocked if you threw batteries in the normal garbage. We stopped doing that in the early 1980s somewhere and the transition from NiCd to Alkaline and NiMH didn't change this. So to me it sounds like you live in some development country where garbage recycling is lagging 40 years behind...

It is even frowned upon to place batteries together with the electronic junk recycling and it's preferable to remove them and recycle them separately.

There's typically a little bin at each recycling station where you can leave them and they accept all chemistries including Li/Ion variants. The only thing you can't hand in there is big stuff like car batteries, which would have to be taken to the recycling center.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

0 comment threads

+0
−0

Extra bins to dispose them are not only present at recycling centers. Each shop/supermarket that sells those is obliged to have a place where to return them to.

Sometimes you also can ask at the information counter to take them back.

(At least in Europe it is law, applicability in the US maybe limited, but asking someone in a shop if they take them back might bring results)

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

1 comment thread

Applies in Norway (1 comment)

Sign up to answer this question »