Recycling Hub

Lead-Acid Automobile Batteries
Nearly 90 percent of all lead-acid batteries are recycled. Almost any retailer that sells lead-acid batteries collects used batteries for recycling, as required by most state laws. Reclaimers crush batteries into nickel-sized pieces and separate the plastic components. They send the plastic to a reprocessor for manufacture into new plastic products and deliver purified lead to battery manufacturers and other industries. A typical lead-acid battery contains 60 to 80 percent recycled lead and plastic.

Non-Automotive Lead-Based Batteries
Gel cells and sealed lead-acid batteries are commonly used to power industrial equipment, emergency lighting, and alarm systems. The same recycling process applies as with automotive batteries. An automotive store or a local waste agency may accept the batteries for recycling.

Dry-Cell Batteries
Dry-cell batteries include alkaline and carbon zinc (9-volt, D, C, AA, AAA), mercuric-oxide (button, some cylindrical and rectangular), silver-oxide and zinc-air (button), and lithium (9-volt, C, AA, coin, button, rechargeable). On average, each person in the United States discards eight dry-cell batteries per year.

• Alkaline and Zinc-Carbon Batteries
  Alkaline batteries, the everyday household batteries used in flashlights, remote controls, and other appliances. Several reclamation companies now process these batteries.
• Button-Cell Batteries
  Most small, round “button-cell” type batteries found in items such as watches and hearing aids contain mercury, silver, cadmium, lithium, or other heavy metals as their main component. Button cells are increasingly targeted for recycling because of the value of recoverable materials, their small size, and their easy handling relative to other battery types.
• Rechargeable Batteries
  The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC), a nonprofit public service organization, targets four kinds of rechargeable batteries for recycling: nickel-cadmium (Ni-CD), nickel metal hydride, lithium ion, and small-sealed lead. Its “Charge Up to Recycle!” program offers various recycling plans for communities, retailers, businesses, and public agencies.

Source: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/battery.htm

Consider reducing your purchase of products that contain hazardous ingredients. Learn about the use of alternative methods or products-without hazardous ingredients-for some common household needs.

To avoid the potential risks associated with household hazardous wastes, it is important that people always monitor the use, storage, and disposal of products with potentially hazardous substances in their homes. Below are some tips for individuals to follow in their own homes:

• Use and store products containing hazardous substances carefully to prevent any accidents at home. Never store hazardous products in food containers; keep them in their original containers and never remove labels. Corroding containers, however, require special handling. Call your local hazardous materials official or fire department for instructions.
• When leftovers remain, never mix HHW with other products. Incompatible products might react, ignite, or explode, and contaminated HHW might become unrecyclable.
• Remember to follow any instructions for use and disposal provided on product labels.
• Call your local environmental, health, or solid waste agency for instructions on proper use and disposal and to learn about local HHW drop off programs and upcoming collection days.

Source: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/hhw.htm

Leftover household products that contain corrosive, toxic, ignitable, or reactive ingredients are considered to be “household hazardous waste” or “HHW.” Products, such as paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides, that contain potentially hazardous ingredients require special care when you dispose of them.

Improper disposal of household hazardous wastes can include pouring them down the drain, on the ground, into storm sewers, or in some cases putting them out with the trash. The dangers of such disposal methods might not be immediately obvious, but improper disposal of these wastes can pollute the environment and pose a threat to human health. Many communities in the United States offer a variety of options for conveniently and safely managing HHW.

Source: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/hhw.htm

* Recycling protects and expands U.S. manufacturing jobs and increases U.S. competitiveness.
* Recycling reduces the need for landfilling and incineration.
* Recycling prevents pollution caused by the manufacturing of products from virgin materials.
* Recycling saves energy.
* Recycling decreases emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.
* Recycling conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals.
* Recycling helps sustain the environment for future generations.

Source: http://www.epa.gov/

* Saves natural resources. Waste is not just created when consumers throw items away. Throughout the life cycle of a product from extraction of raw materials to transportation to processing and manufacturing facilities to manufacture and use waste is generated. Reusing items or making them with less material decreases waste dramatically. Ultimately, less materials will need to be recycled or sent to landfills or waste combustion facilities.
* Reduces toxicity of waste. Selecting nonhazardous or less hazardous items is another important component of source reduction. Using less hazardous alternatives for certain items (e.g., cleaning products and pesticides), sharing products that contain hazardous chemicals instead of throwing out leftovers, reading label directions carefully, and using the smallest amount necessary are ways to reduce waste toxicity.
* Reduces costs. The benefits of preventing waste go beyond reducing reliance on other forms of waste disposal. Preventing waste also can mean economic savings for communities, businesses, schools, and individual consumers.

o Communities. More than 7,000 communities have instituted “pay-as-you-throw” programs where citizens pay for each can or bag of trash they set out for disposal rather than through the tax base or a flat fee. When these households reduce waste at the source, they dispose of less trash and pay lower trash bills.
o Businesses. Industry also has an economic incentive to practice source reduction. When businesses manufacture their products with less packaging, they are buying less raw material. A decrease in manufacturing costs can mean a larger profit margin, with savings that can be passed on to the consumer.
o Consumers. Consumers also can share in the economic benefits of source reduction. Buying products in bulk, with less packaging, or that are reusable (not single-use) frequently means a cost savings. What is good for the environment can be good for the pocketbook as well.

Source: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/reduce.htm

* More than 55 million tons of MSW were source reduced in the United States in 2000, the latest year for which these figures are available.
* Containers and packaging represented approximately 28 percent of the materials source reduced in 2000, in addition to nondurable goods (e.g., newspapers, clothing) at 17 percent, durable goods (e.g., appliances, furniture, tires) at 10 percent, and other MSW (e.g., yard trimmings, food scraps) at 45 percent.
* There are more than 6,000 reuse centers around the country, ranging from specialized programs for building materials or unneeded materials in schools to local programs such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army, according to the Reuse Development Organization.
* Between two and five percent of the waste stream is potentially reusable according to local studies in Berkeley, California, and Leverett, Massachusetts.
* Since 1977, the weight of 2-liter plastic soft drink bottles has been reduced from 68 grams each to 51 grams. That means that 250 million pounds of plastic per year has been kept out of the waste stream.

Source: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/reduce.htm

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends a three-tiered approach for managing solid waste. Each of these should be practiced to decrease the amount of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), more commonly known as trash or garbage, headed for final disposal. They are in order of importance:

• Reduce – making something smaller or using less, resulting in a smaller amount of waste.
  • “Source reduction” is reducing waste before you purchase it, or by purchasing products that are not wasteful in their packaging or use.
  • A key part of waste reduction is conservation– using natural resources wisely, and using less than usual to avoid waste.
• Reuse – putting an item to another use after its original function has been fulfilled. There are two types of reuse possible:
  • Conventional reuse – where the product is used a number of times for the same function before becoming obsolete or unusable.
  • New life reuse – where a new use is found for the item.
• Recycle - collecting materials that would otherwise be considered waste to be broken down and remade into new products. Recycled materials can be derived from:
  • Pre-consumer waste – materials used in manufacturing.
  • Post-consumer waste – materials discarded by the consumer.

  Source: U.S. General Services Administration