Dispose of batteries correctly: Hazardous waste that must not be disposed of with household waste
Created: 01/28/2022, 15:40
By: Juliane Gutmann
Batteries are also used in smoke detectors.
© Matthias Stolt/dpa
Throwing batteries in the normal household waste not only harms the environment: Valuable resources such as silver or cobalt are also lost if they are not recycled.
If there were no battery in the remote control, you would have to change the channel directly on the television every time.
Even the analogue alarm clock would not ring without a battery.
But batteries are not only of great use in the household.
Whether in the car, in measuring and technical devices or flashlights: They make our everyday life a lot easier.
Zinc-carbon, alkaline-manganese and lithium batteries or button cells:
Batteries contain valuable metals, most of which can be recovered through proper recycling.
If batteries end up with normal household waste*, they are burned in incinerators.
Although the resulting air pollutants are caught in the filter of the waste incineration plant, the pollutants do not simply disappear.
As the science
portal Quarks
further informs,
the environmentally harmful substances end up in the filter dust, which ultimately has to be disposed of underground
.
In addition, shredding the batteries in the waste incineration plants can produce sparks that can set the entire waste storage facility on fire,
Quarks.de continues
.
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Hazardous waste sign: Crossed-out wheeled bin on batteries
Although incinerators also recycle roughly, raw material recovery is significantly higher when waste is properly recycled.
According to the Federal Environment Agency, battery recycling focuses on
recovering metals such as zinc, nickel, lead, cadmium, mercury, silver, iron/steel, copper, aluminum and cobalt.
But how do I proceed if I want to dispose of empty or defective batteries?
The answer from the Federal Environment Agency: "Old batteries and accumulators are hazardous waste.
Therefore, they must be collected separately.
You can also see this on every battery by the symbol of the crossed-out garbage can
.
They don't belong in the household waste under any circumstances - or even carelessly in the environment".
According to the Battery Act, dealers are obliged to take back used batteries and accumulators free of charge.
An overview of the options for disposing of batteries properly:
Return old batteries to retailers (you can use collection boxes that can be handed in at any discounter, drugstore or hardware store)
You can also hand in old batteries at recycling centers.
Many municipalities also offer such a service.
(jg) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.