The Right Way to Dispose of Old Batteries

Did you know that throwing your old batteries out with your trash or recycling can pose a serious hazard to waste haulers?  Workers like Teresa Montgomery’s crew at South San Francisco Scavenger are at risk when batteries end up loose in a recycling or trash cart.  That’s why County Environmental Health Services has partnered with the various haulers to educate communities on how to properly dispose of old, dead batteries.  Their publication, “Final Resting Place” is chock-full of great information, including helpful articles and graphics to easily show readers the FOUR EASY STEPS that will get your batteries to the right place and make sure they don’t catch fire or explode!  Essentially, you want to:
 

1. Collect all of your household batteries that you are done using in a clear plastic zip-top bag
2. Tape the terminals and contacts on your lithium-ion and 9-volt batteries so they do not spark
3. Zip the clear plastic zip-top bag when it is at least halfway full and ready for collection
4. Place the bag of batteries on top of the gray garbage cart

Read the full publication here.