Throw Away Or Recycle: How To Deal With A Pile Of Dead Batteries

Tech expert Omar Gallaga doesn’t want to consign his AAs, D cells and weed eater batteries to a landfill. But doing so could be safer than one may think.

By Shelly BrisbinJanuary 8, 2021 2:10 pm,

If you routinely recycle cans, bottles and paper, your thoughts have probably also turned to the batteries that power so many of our devices – from smoke alarms to TV remotes and toys. But how and where can dead batteries be recycled, and which ones will recycling services accept? Tech expert Omar Gallaga recently wrote about his battery recycling saga on Medium. Gallaga told Texas Standard that he has saved dead batteries for years, looking for a way to recycle them. 

“I had all these batteries lying around, and I don’t want to throw them away; I don’t want them to end up in a landfill,” he said. “I just have a lot of guilt about that.”

What you’ll hear in this segment:

– What kinds of batteries local retailers will accept for recycling

– How a 1996 law made batteries safer to dispose

– What you can do with dead alkaline batteries, besides throwing them out

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