Yes, We Do Need To Recycle Alkaline Batteries
Dateline Trail, B.C, Canada - Toxco Corporation. This just in, now help spread the word… We can and should recycle alkaline batteries. I have written on this topic a couple of times before, but it almost seems like more questions were raised than answered!
Some places that take batteries for recycling have big signs asking you not to put alkaline batteries in the container. Other places, like Batteries Plus here in Oregon, that accept rechargeable batteries from you, refuse to take alkaline, or is you insist, take them and toss them in the trash.
I have also read on a few web sites, claims that companies that take all kinds of batteries, actually just sort and ship the alkaline ones somewhere for storage and do not recycle them. Another site said there are no companies that will still recycle alkaline batteries and that the companies that do collect them along with other types, sort out the alkaline and toss them. So, in the end, I really didn’t know what to think. Fortunately, Pete, in comment #7, (thank you 
)came to the rescue with a recommendation to learn about The Big Green Box.
Hoping that the Big Green Box program is doing something with the alkaline batteries they collect to keep them out of the landfill, I went to their web site. Even the linked news stories on their site talk about reprocessing the material on rechargeable batteries, but say nothing much about what happens to the alkaline. In the end, I could not find anything there specific enough to convince old skeptical me, so I began with the phone calls.
Eventually I reached Ed Green at Toxco. He is the person in charge of the Big Green Box program. He is amazingly knowledgeable, and was very thorough in educating me about the history of alkaline batteries and the current status of recycling them.
Although by 1990 mercury was “banned” from alkaline batteries, they still contain a small amount of mercury. Apparently this is an unavoidable part of the manufacturing and mining processes. When the other metals in alkaline batteries, like zinc and manganese, are mined, small amounts of mercury are included in the raw ore. The good news is that the process Toxco uses to recycle alkalines also reclaims the mercury.
Toxco actually hand and eye sorts all Big Green Boxes of batteries returned to them. They recycle and recover all the metals in every type of battery. After the alkaline batteries are sorted out in their U.S. collection locations, they are shipped to a British Columbia, Canada facility which crushes them and recovers the zinc, manganese and steel. Any trace amounts of mercury are also recovered in the process.
Unfortunately, there still is no profit, or even a break even point in the process. That is why the Big Green Box must be purchased. The cost of the box subsidizes the cost of the recycling. It may not be practical to expect individuals to purchase a 58.00 box, even if it would hold a year or more supply of exhausted batteries. However, there are several companies that provide boxes that the individual consumer can dispose of their batteries in. These include Longs Drugs, Walgreens, and Whole Foods, among others. In states like California that “require” consumers to recycle their alkaline batteries, there are many more businesses that offer the service. In fact, Ed told me that in those states, Batteries Plus was one of the largest suppliers of The Big Green Box. It’s too bad the Batteries Plus stores in states like Oregon won’t join the program until they are required to!
So, the final word, (hopefully), is in. We can and should try to recycle alkaline batteries. Because in Southern Oregon I believe our Walgreens has the boxes, we should be able to save and safely dispose of ours.
Hooray! 
Choose from box
Thanks for all the research you have put into this post! fantastic!
Comment by Bob — January 10, 2008 @ 6:14 pm
Great blog!
If the economics don’t work, recycling efforts won’t either.
Http://LivePaths.com blogs about innovative entrepreneurs that make money selling recycled items, provide green services or help us reduce our dependency on non renewable resources. These includes some very cool Green online ventures, great new technologies, startups and investments opportunities.
Comment by luis — January 11, 2008 @ 10:09 am
You are welcome, Bob. Sometimes the research is quick and easy, other times it takes a few tries. It helps when commentators add bits of their own knowledge for me to follow up on.
Comment by Will — January 11, 2008 @ 3:09 pm
Welcome Luis! Thanks for that link. You link your name to the site also. Is it yours? If so do you do it by yourself or are there several of you posting to it?
Everyone - Take a look at the site! As we have run into a few times in discussions here, the economics of the process is such a big issue for recycling.
-Will
Comment by Will — January 11, 2008 @ 3:17 pm
Thanks Will again, I remember that article. I actually investigated what they do in my town - and believe or not we are able to recycle them, I am not sure, but I think we have to take them to the special place. Now you can say that we don’t use much of batteries at home, lol. Anna
Comment by Anna — January 17, 2008 @ 3:08 pm
Hi Will, great post! I gave it a thumbs up on Stumble and linked it from my How to Dispose of Batteries Properly page on Squidoo. I never feel right about tossing my batteries in the trash.
http://www.squidoo.com/howtodisposebatteries
Comment by GeekMom — January 22, 2008 @ 7:13 am
Batteries don’t go in our normal recycling so we have to collect them up and take them to a central recycling centre. It’s about 4 miles away so I don’t want to be taking just a couple of batteries up at a time as it’s not on my usual route anywhere and it’s up a long hill which I know I can’t cycle up (especially as there’s no cycle route!).
I’d like to offer to take the neighbours batteries up too - but I suspect UK toxic waste rules will restrict the collection and storage of batteries which aren’t directly my own. (Apparently you’re not allowed to collect compost off your neighbours without a waste removal licence)
The reason they don’t collect them at more places is the fact they’re quite toxic and can leak - and have to be stored correctly. All the usual reasons for stopping useful bits of recycling.
I know batteries can leak and can be pretty horrid things but we shouldn’t be putting them in landfill, we need to make it easier and more convenient to recycle.
Comment by Diane — January 26, 2008 @ 2:56 pm
Hi Diane, and welcome! I can’t imagine that there would be any trouble bringing the batteries of a few neighbors also. But you never know about these government rules!
What do you mean about collecting compost? Do you mean if you asked your neighbor to save kitchen waste for you your compost pile, that would be illegal?
-Will
Comment by Will — January 27, 2008 @ 11:08 am