Can the common household battery such as the AA, AAA, C and D truly be recycled? It is a common unknown fact and I finally did some research to get some answers by calling trash companies and researching online.

How to safely dispose

1. To safely dispose of your household alkaline batteries, tape the ends with masking tape and place them inside of a plastic bag to prevent leakage.
2. Then put them in your regular trash.
3. If you have hundreds of them, best to throw them out in smaller groups. I was told that a few batteries scattered throughout a landfill doesn’t create a noticeable effect on the environment. The idea is to avoid hundreds or thousands together and leaking in one centralized area.

Battery Management Act of 1996

1. This act was put into place to reduce the amount of mercury in batteries so that they are not as harmful to the environment when thrown into landfills.

Recycling Programs for Alkaline Batteries?

1. I found out that when alkaline batteries are recycled from time to time, steel and zinc can be recovered.
2. When I look into the battery recycling programs, I see no option for alkaline. Most counties do not collect alkaline batteries because of the expense it would be to collect them separately. This is especially due to the fact that they are not deemed hazardous since they contain only a fraction of mercury than before.
3. If a program is collecting this type of battery, then they are either keeping them in safe bunkers until someone finds a way to recycle them consistently or they are putting them into landfills in containers or bags to prevent leakage.