Americans throw away more than 10 million batteries every day, according to Cirba Solutions Recycling Services, and one Utah group is trying to keep batteries out of the landfill. At the landfill, Ed Larrant, a lab pack chemist for the Salt Lake County Health Department, explained the dangers of lithium batteries when they’re tossed out. Lithium batteries can be found in rechargeable devices such as phones, computers and tablets. “That lithium and what they’re made out of lithium, nickel, cadmium, they all could potentially get into the environment and would be harmful to water for animals,” he said.
Once the dangerous chemicals get into the environment, toxic elements could be absorbed into the bodies of animals or humans, impacting the liver and kidneys. Rechargeable lithium batteries should be taken to the household hazardous waste facility to be recycled, free of charge. While lithium batteries can be dangerous when thrown away, alkaline batteries can go to the landfill safely in Utah. “Alkaline batteries can be thrown away in the regular trash,” Larrant explained. “It’s magnesium in the middle and it just turns in the dirt basically. It’s not hazardous.”
The decision on how to safely dispose of alkaline batteries depends on which state you’re in. “The federal government list alkaline batteries as nonhazardous,” Larrant said. “The state of California, they’ve chosen to label alkaline batteries as hazardous waste so they don’t go into the trash and into the landfill. However, Utah and several other states adhere to the government’s definition of nonhazardous or alkaline batteries.”