5 ms·

Wait, do Americans (judging from your 1cent coins) not have battery recycling? All my coin cells just go in the battery recycling.

rafaelmn 2y ago
I'd say in this case it's worse if you have recycling because then you have to keep them around until you get them to recycling vs. just chucking them in the bin.
- wizzwizz4 2y ago
  But they can stay in the "dangerous objects that children don't have access to" place, until you take them to the battery recycling.
- wiether 2y ago
  So what you need is... a recycling bin where you put stuff that are awaiting your next trip to the recycling station. Batteries, light-bulbs, small electronics...
  - kulahan 2y ago
    Sounds expensive to support all the logistics of that bin.
    - bobthepanda 2y ago
      For me it’s just a shoebox by the door that comes with me the next time I go to a thrift store or other participating e-waste handler.
      - kulahan 2y ago
        Yeah, I have a little battery jar as well. I basically only use coin batteries, so it looks kinda cool as it fills up.
  - rafaelmn 2y ago
    How many batteries do you go through ? I'm speaking from experience - my inlaws put batteries in a box in a drawer, my snoopy older son found it going through the drawers and spread them all over the flor. He's old enough not to eat them but the younger one isn't. Nothing happened ofc. but point is you are collecting dangerous shit for no reason - the ~10 batteries I replace in a year ? Not to mention you never remember to take them to a recycling place, maybe in like 3 years if you haven't grown tired of them and just chucked them in regular garbage.
rconti 2y ago
In my American city, yes, we can put batteries in a zip-lock bag on top of our trash bin. But I'm not going to do this for a single coin cell. I usually just have a stack/pile/box of electronics and batteries to take to the local electronics recycling place a few miles away. Unfortunately, the pile is never 0, because as soon as I drop it off, I find something new to get rid of.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  That may be exclusively a Portland thing. You definitely can't do that in most of the US.
  - rconti 2y ago
    I'm in California.
- brewdad 2y ago
  I've never tried it but I can almost guarantee any bag placed on top of my trash bin would end up falling off and laying the the nearby grass when the truck tries to tip the bin. For most of the year my truck comes by before dawn. Even if they saw it, I'm sure they wouldn't get out of the truck to properly handle it.
trollbridge 2y ago
A dedicated bin in front of my house for it? No. I’m not really going to make a special trip to some place to recycle tiny little batteries - and most recycling is a scam anyway that either gets dumped in the regular rubbish or else gets shipped to a third world country. For things that can be legitimately recycled I make sure to reuse them… cardboard is one thing that is legitimately recycled here with special places to drop it off that is worth the special trip. For plastic trash, it isn’t recyclable and is one of the most irritating aspects of buying anything new: a mountain of unusable plastic. The same goes for takeout food.
- bobthepanda 2y ago
  At least where I am in the US, the Goodwill also participates in the state’s E Waste program, so I just have a little box of used batteries that comes with me when I spring clean and inevitably decide to donate something.
  - nosioptar 2y ago
    The Goodwills in my area all claim to do e-waste. I've never been to one that will accept e-waste.
    - brewdad 2y ago
      Just bury it at the bottom of a box of clothes then.
- buzer 2y ago
  In Finland any shop that sells small batteries must also offer to recycle them for free. There is similar rule for bottles/cans with deposits (similar to CRV though values are quite a bit higher, 0.10-0.40€ depending on size/material). If you sell something for which customer needs to pay the deposit for you also need to accept them & pay back the deposit.
- lolinder 2y ago
  > most recycling is a scam anyway that either gets dumped in the regular rubbish or else gets shipped to a third world country I've never seen this credibly claimed about battery recycling. Curbside plastic recycling sure, but my understanding is that at least lithium ion batteries legitimately have enough value to be worth the effort to really recycle for the companies who do it.
mystified5016 2y ago
A lot of places in the US just don't have recycling at all. I've never heard of a municipal recycling program that takes batteries. Everywhere in the US I'm aware of you have to take batteries to a specialty drop-off location for recycling. They're all private businesses like Home Depot or small battery shops. Because of this, a horrifying number of batteries just go into the landfill
- maxerickson 2y ago
  My county is about 35,000 people. There's no pickup for batteries, but they accept them for dropoff on site (along with other recyclables). I think this is pretty common, probably any landfill with a household hazardous waste program.
- pkaye 2y ago
  My county in California has a household hazardous waster disposal drop off. Any resident can drop off old batteries, bulbs, motor oil, anti-freeze, brake fluid, paints thinner, solvents, pesticides, cleaning chemicals, electronic waste, old stuff with mercury and medical sharps to name a few. You don't even have to exit your car. Just place everything in boxes in your car trunk and park at the facility and their staff will take care of it. If you have anything that looks new and usable they leave it in a reuse area for others who want it. Its all funded through a $15 fee on our property taxes. Well worth it for the convenience.
cmurf 2y ago
Typically it's a one day per year household hazardous waste drop off. Bigger cities may have more frequency. Any other day and it's usually a volunteer business somewhere in the town. It may have a fee.
- bgnn 2y ago
  Oh that's not practical at all. We have battery drop off points every neighbourhood supermarket, which is in every couple of kilometers or so (Europe).
  - Symbiote 2y ago
    In Copenhagen (Denmark) we have them in every apartment building. There's a bin for batteries, and a cupboard for other hazardous waste. I'm not sure if every house has one, or if they're just in a few places along streets with houses, but there is some system for it as I've seen the red boxes.
deleted 2y ago
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rafaelmn 2y ago

I'd say in this case it's worse if you have recycling because then you have to keep them around until you get them to recycling vs. just chucking them in the bin.

wizzwizz4 2y ago
But they can stay in the "dangerous objects that children don't have access to" place, until you take them to the battery recycling.
wiether 2y ago
So what you need is... a recycling bin where you put stuff that are awaiting your next trip to the recycling station. Batteries, light-bulbs, small electronics...
- kulahan 2y ago
  Sounds expensive to support all the logistics of that bin.
  - bobthepanda 2y ago
    For me it’s just a shoebox by the door that comes with me the next time I go to a thrift store or other participating e-waste handler.
    - kulahan 2y ago
      Yeah, I have a little battery jar as well. I basically only use coin batteries, so it looks kinda cool as it fills up.
- rafaelmn 2y ago
  How many batteries do you go through ? I'm speaking from experience - my inlaws put batteries in a box in a drawer, my snoopy older son found it going through the drawers and spread them all over the flor. He's old enough not to eat them but the younger one isn't. Nothing happened ofc. but point is you are collecting dangerous shit for no reason - the ~10 batteries I replace in a year ? Not to mention you never remember to take them to a recycling place, maybe in like 3 years if you haven't grown tired of them and just chucked them in regular garbage.

rconti 2y ago

In my American city, yes, we can put batteries in a zip-lock bag on top of our trash bin. But I'm not going to do this for a single coin cell. I usually just have a stack/pile/box of electronics and batteries to take to the local electronics recycling place a few miles away. Unfortunately, the pile is never 0, because as soon as I drop it off, I find something new to get rid of.

crazygringo 2y ago
That may be exclusively a Portland thing. You definitely can't do that in most of the US.
- rconti 2y ago
  I'm in California.
brewdad 2y ago
I've never tried it but I can almost guarantee any bag placed on top of my trash bin would end up falling off and laying the the nearby grass when the truck tries to tip the bin. For most of the year my truck comes by before dawn. Even if they saw it, I'm sure they wouldn't get out of the truck to properly handle it.

trollbridge 2y ago

A dedicated bin in front of my house for it? No. I’m not really going to make a special trip to some place to recycle tiny little batteries - and most recycling is a scam anyway that either gets dumped in the regular rubbish or else gets shipped to a third world country. For things that can be legitimately recycled I make sure to reuse them… cardboard is one thing that is legitimately recycled here with special places to drop it off that is worth the special trip. For plastic trash, it isn’t recyclable and is one of the most irritating aspects of buying anything new: a mountain of unusable plastic. The same goes for takeout food.

bobthepanda 2y ago
At least where I am in the US, the Goodwill also participates in the state’s E Waste program, so I just have a little box of used batteries that comes with me when I spring clean and inevitably decide to donate something.
- nosioptar 2y ago
  The Goodwills in my area all claim to do e-waste. I've never been to one that will accept e-waste.
  - brewdad 2y ago
    Just bury it at the bottom of a box of clothes then.
buzer 2y ago
In Finland any shop that sells small batteries must also offer to recycle them for free. There is similar rule for bottles/cans with deposits (similar to CRV though values are quite a bit higher, 0.10-0.40€ depending on size/material). If you sell something for which customer needs to pay the deposit for you also need to accept them & pay back the deposit.
lolinder 2y ago
> most recycling is a scam anyway that either gets dumped in the regular rubbish or else gets shipped to a third world country I've never seen this credibly claimed about battery recycling. Curbside plastic recycling sure, but my understanding is that at least lithium ion batteries legitimately have enough value to be worth the effort to really recycle for the companies who do it.

mystified5016 2y ago

A lot of places in the US just don't have recycling at all. I've never heard of a municipal recycling program that takes batteries. Everywhere in the US I'm aware of you have to take batteries to a specialty drop-off location for recycling. They're all private businesses like Home Depot or small battery shops. Because of this, a horrifying number of batteries just go into the landfill

maxerickson 2y ago
My county is about 35,000 people. There's no pickup for batteries, but they accept them for dropoff on site (along with other recyclables). I think this is pretty common, probably any landfill with a household hazardous waste program.
pkaye 2y ago
My county in California has a household hazardous waster disposal drop off. Any resident can drop off old batteries, bulbs, motor oil, anti-freeze, brake fluid, paints thinner, solvents, pesticides, cleaning chemicals, electronic waste, old stuff with mercury and medical sharps to name a few. You don't even have to exit your car. Just place everything in boxes in your car trunk and park at the facility and their staff will take care of it. If you have anything that looks new and usable they leave it in a reuse area for others who want it. Its all funded through a $15 fee on our property taxes. Well worth it for the convenience.

cmurf 2y ago

Typically it's a one day per year household hazardous waste drop off. Bigger cities may have more frequency. Any other day and it's usually a volunteer business somewhere in the town. It may have a fee.

bgnn 2y ago
Oh that's not practical at all. We have battery drop off points every neighbourhood supermarket, which is in every couple of kilometers or so (Europe).
- Symbiote 2y ago
  In Copenhagen (Denmark) we have them in every apartment building. There's a bin for batteries, and a cupboard for other hazardous waste. I'm not sure if every house has one, or if they're just in a few places along streets with houses, but there is some system for it as I've seen the red boxes.

deleted 2y ago

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