By David Edwards, Hazardous Waste Coordinator
In the interest of the proper stewardship of our natural resources and environmental sustainability, the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (OEH&S) at UNH is reaching out to the university community to increase awareness of our battery recycling program to community members who are not familiar with it. Some departments have their own in-house battery recycling programs but most do not, so OEH&S seeks to get the word out to everyone that all types of batteries are gladly accepted for recycling at OEH&S.
Below is a list of common battery types that any office may have on hand for disposal and reasons why they are hazardous for the environment.
- Zinc-Carbon Often called “heavy duty” or “extra heavy duty,” these contain toxic lead and zinc.
- Alkaline These contain zinc which is toxic to aquatic life.
- Lithium These contain reactive lithium and pose a fire hazard if mishandled.
- Lithium-Ion These are found in many consumer electronics, while the chemistry is different than the lithium battery the hazards are similar.
- Ni-Cad These are found in many commercial applications where dependability is needed. These contain toxic cadmium and nickel.
- Nickel Metal Hydride These are another dependable rechargeable battery type frequently found in hand-held devices. They contain nickel which is toxic to aquatic life.
- Lead-Acid Ubiquitous and dependable in commercial use from emergency power supplies emergency lighting to vehicle batteries these make up by far the lions share by weight of the batteries we recycle. Of course these contain lead which is a regulated toxic material.
Since January 2017 OEH&S has recycled 220 pounds of alkaline, 124 pounds of lithium-ion, 415 pounds of ni-cad and 5120 pounds of lead-acid batteries. Our goal is to see that all the spent batteries on campus are recycled.
To recycle small quantities of up to a pound or two, send batteries by interoffice mail by first taping the terminals, placing them in a sturdy envelope or box and addressing it to David Edwards, OEH&S, 122 Perpetuity Hall.
For large or heavy batteries, drop off the batteries at 11 Leavitt lane (Perpetuity Hall) by contacting Marty McCrone at 2-3526 or David Edwards at 2-0683 to arrange a mutually convenient time.
If your work area has regular hazardous waste pick-ups you may place the batteries in a container in the hazardous waste collection area and OEH&S will pick them up on the next visit.