Ever wonder what to do with batteries once they run out of juice? Disposable batteries aren’t something that I frequently use, so when they deplete, I need to double check where to dispose.


Batteries are one of the few things that still need to be tossed in the trash, unlike the majority of compostable or recyclable goods that we go through in a day. You, like me, can probably think of only a handful of things that actually runs on disposable batteries these days – everything else can be recharged.

What’s wrong with regular batteries?

The problem is in the core of the alkaline batteries, a cathode mix of finely ground powders of manganese dioxide and various conductors. These chemicals cannot be recycled, and because of the chemical content, also shouldn’t go into the landfill. In fact, some states have outright banned them from their own waste collection, such as California.perf

Obviously a solution is needed, so Perf Go Green came to the rescue. Already a leader in biodegradable plastic products, they’ve recently launched PerfPower Eco-Alkaline Batteries, combined with a free recycling initiative.

These new batteries contain 0% of lead, mercury, and cadmium, are high performance and developed from recycle materials (including all of the packaging).

PerfPower’s recycling initiative

This is a key addition to their new product. Perf Go Green Chairman and CEO Tony Tracy explains that they “hope to engage consumers in the recycling process and hopefully through its accessibility, recycling will become habit.”

Recycling should already be a habit for all of us, considering it is one of the easiest ways to help the environment. Few things actually need to be trashed, if we take the time to sort our waste, and now batteries are among those that can be given a new life after the fact, keeping yet another item out of our landfills.

The recycling initiative, at www.i-recycled.com, makes disposing their batteries and packaging accessible and convenient, and will be launched March 31, 2009.

Visit Perf Go Green for more information about their initiative.

And for further reading:

  • The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC)
  • The Raw Materials Company
  • Environment Canada’s Canadian Consumer Battery Baseline Study
  • The Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) program plan
  • The EU Battery Directive
  • The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act
  • Californians Against Waste
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