Introduction: Battery Waste Management Services

Batteries are a need in everyone's life. Everything from clocks and watches, to remote controls, toys, and automobiles function with the help of batteries. After a battery’s intended use, some of them will put waste batteries at home, some would collect waste batteries and put them in recycling bins, while a few will throw them away together with domestic waste. There are more used batteries in total and this severely pollutes the environment. Hazardous wastes include those containing cadmium, mercury, zinc, lead, and chromium. These heavy metals contaminate the soil, alter its alkalinity and acidity, disturb the growth of crops, and build up in the bodies of crops.

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Why is Battery Waste Management required?

Batteries are created using a variety of materials and chemicals. While some of these materials are hazardous, others are useful. They are most likely to end up in landfills, where harmful compounds leak into the earth and contaminate soil and water, or if they are not recycled, they might be burned along with other household waste, which would result in air pollution. Following are a few kinds of batteries that are mostly used and ultimately disposed of-

• Alkaline
• Mercury
• Carbon Zinc
• Lithium
• Lithium Ion
• Nickel Cadmium
• Nickel Metal Hydride
• Lead Acid
• Silver Oxide

Some hazards of the improper disposal of batteries are:-

• Heavy metals get into water bodies, putting aquatic life in danger. 
• Some metals easily evaporate resulting in heavy air pollution. 
• The accumulation of heavy metals in the human body through the food chain is another factor that negatively affects the human nervous system, digestive system, and other systems in addition to our living environment.

Some of the chemicals in these batteries can cause major problems to health. These comprise toxic materials like:

How to follow Battery Waste Management?

• Eliminate Single-Use Batteries

Single use batteries are hazardous and their use shall be limited. These are non-rechargeable batteries and so have a short life span. They must be disposed of as soon as possible. Following are a few types of non-rechargeable single use batteries-

1. Alkaline cells
2. Zinc-carbon cells
3. Mercury cells
4. Lithium cells
5. Silver-Oxide cells

• Switch to rechargeable batteries.

Overall, rechargeable batteries use fewer non-renewable resources than disposable batteries. As the name suggest, these batteries can be recharged hence the amount of energy required would consume less batteries. These batteries are cost effective as they last for a longer period of time.

• Dispose Rechargeable batteries only at a Recycling facility

Rechargeable batteries have nickel and cadmium in them, which can be hazardous to the environment if they are disposed of in a landfill or an incinerator. These batteries need to be discarded at a location that collects hazardous waste, a recycling centre, or an electronics store that recycles batteries.

• Stay updated with the policies and laws around Battery Waste Management
• Store used batteries in a cardboard box

Batteries should be kept in non-conductive containers to lower the possibility of fire, leakage, or rupture.

• Avoid storing different kinds of used batteries together

Different battery chemistries shouldn't be mixed together because this could cause leaks and dangerous chemical reactions. Put each type of battery Waste management in a separate bag if you need to dispose of more than one kind.

• Batteries for cars should be disposed of at an auto parts store or a hazardous waste disposal facility.

Car batteries cannot be thrown in the garbage or with your recycling since they contain lead acid. Many merchants will take dead or used automobile batteries, including Home Depot and Auto Zone. You can also dispose of them at hazardous materials-specific recycling or waste disposal facilities.

• Donate or recycle Lithium batteries

These are the types of batteries that are frequently used to power portable electronics including laptops, digital cameras, tablets, and cell phones. Lithium-ion batteries can be donated to refurbishes and recyclers or recycled at a hazardous waste collection facility.

• Dispose Mercury batteries at a hazard waste collection site

This type of battery, which comprises lithium, mercuric oxide, silver oxide, or zinc-air, is used in watches and hearing aids. They are regarded as hazardous materials and must be taken to a location for the collection of domestic hazardous garbage for proper management.

Mercury batteries should never be thrown away since they contain incredibly hazardous chemicals. In some electronics stores, button batteries may be recyclable or disposed of.

The Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022

• To ensure responsible management of used batteries, the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MOEFCC) published the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022. All battery types are covered by the regulations, including industrial, automobile, portable, and electric vehicle batteries.
• The regulations are founded on the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principle, which holds battery manufacturers accountable for the collecting, recycling, and repair of used batteries as well as the use of waste-recovered materials in the manufacture of new batteries.
• The Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001 will be replaced by this Act.
• It encourages entrepreneurship and the establishment of new companies for the gathering, recycling, and refurbishing of used batteries.
• The minimal proportion of material recovery from used batteries that must be mandated by these regulations will bring new technology, investment, and commercial prospects to the recycling and refurbishment sector.
• Reducing the need for new raw materials and conserving natural resources can be accomplished by requiring the use of a specific percentage of recycled materials in the production of new batteries.
• Online registration and reporting, audits, and a committee for observing how regulations are being followed and taking the necessary action to resolve any issues.
• If Extended Producer Responsibility goals, requirements, and responsibilities are not met, environmental compensation will be levied.

Conclusion

In addition to the battery's evolution and history, there has been a significant increase in demand for batteries. The fact that billions of people carry electronics that use electricity is the cause of this demand. These technological devices include digital cameras, laptops, and cell phones. Our toys and gadgets are powered by batteries, which transform chemical energy into electrical energy. The anode and cathode, which are located on opposing ends of a battery, create an electrical circuit that supplies power to an electronic device. Benefits of recycling batteries.