Recycle Week: Battery dumping's illegal

This week's eco-topic: Recycle

Unbeknownst to many Californians, throwing spent batteries into the trash is illegal. No, I'm not just talking about car batteries, which most people know better than to dump into a black bin. I'm not just talking about rechargeable batteries either, though these too shouldn't be black-binned.

I'm talking about those simple alkaline household batteries that go into flashlights, some clocks, and even walkmen, for those still stuck in the 80s. Throw one of those in the trash, and you're breaking the law. Since Feb. 9, 2006, those AA - D batteries have been technically considered hazardous waste. That said, little has been done to let people know about this new categorization -- let alone tell people how they could go about actually disposing of these batteries properly.

Enter Jiffy Lube. Yes, Jiffy Lube. Via a partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Jiffy Lube's putting white battery recycling containers into 28 of its locations in LA County. All AA, AAA, C cells, D cells and button batteries (hearing aid and watch batteries), to be picked up by the DPW and recycled.

Certainly, it's not as if people had NO options before this recent Jiffy Lube dealio; we have permanent drop-off facilities for household hazardous waste in the city. However, we have just SIX of these in the city of LA (although there are more in the county, including one in Santa Monica)-- all open rather sporadic hours. Adding 28 Jiffy Lube locations to that meager six is a huge improvement.

A few other businesses also offer battery recycling help. Amoeba Hollywood has a Big Green Box where you can throw in not just old batteries, but small electronics and CFL bulbs as well. Co-opportunity, a Santa Monica grocery store that has a little battery collection container up front, is the recycling service I end up using most frequently. Whole Foods too has little recycling boxes (they can be hard to find sometimes; ask for help if necessary) where you can throw in batteries, cell phones, and other little hazardous recyclables.

If none of those options are nearby, you can always try searching by zip code on Earth911.org. The search function's spotty for batteries though; I looked up "alkaline batteries" and turned up locations that only recycle cell phone batteries. Read carefully before heading over.

Which is to say that, while I love that businesses are meeting a recycling need, the way we deal with hazardous waste in the LA area is very half-ass and hodgepodge. I mean, the HARDEST way to recycle batteries is by getting to one of the difficult-to-find city hazardous waste centers during their limited biz hours....

I guess that's a good argument for buying rechargeable batteries. Those will eventually need to be recycled too, but much less frequently --

Update, 2/8/08: The City of Santa Monica has an expanded list of battery collection locations.

Photo by David Jones via Flickr

Comments

[m]

The library I normally visit in Pasadena has a box for battery recycling as well. I am not sure how prevalent this is though.

[David Bailey]

Most Radio Shack locations will take them.

[Chief Family Officer]

Wow, I had no idea. Thanks for letting me know! Now I'll have to find the location nearest us ... And the post about your gifts from your mom was awesome - I was laughing hysterically!

[Adam Rakunas]

The Vons on Wilshire and 14th in Santa Monica has a battery recycling bin, too. Just walk in the north entrance (off the parking lot), and it'll be on your left, right by the shopping baskets. Do any other grocery stores have these?

[Siel]

Interesting! So both Vons and Radioshack take them? That's quite a few locations then. We now just need to get the word out so people will actually bother to take them to the recycling bin --

[Carlin]

Here is a tip to help stay green, save some green and reduce the alkaline battery disposal problem.

Buy less alkaline batteries without giving up on them. Recharge them with a Battery Xtender that can safely and easily extend the life of disposable Alkaline batteries by 10 plus times.
It charges 1.5V AAA, AA C & D and can also recharge 1.2V rechargeable batteries of different chemistries at the same time.