Getting Rid of Batteries

[ColoradoBound]

I don't have any batteries yet but I am wondering how you get rid of them once their useful life is over. They should have value in the lead but all the acid is a negative.

[azdave]

I don't have any batteries yet but I am wondering how you get rid of them once their useful life is over. They should have value in the lead but all the acid is a negative.

I have a local battery dealer who takes them and gives me cash. You don't have to buy a new battery to turn in old ones either. Most scrap yards will take them too and pay you by weight.

[lkruper]

I don't have any batteries yet but I am wondering how you get rid of them once their useful life is over. They should have value in the lead but all the acid is a negative.

When one purchases batteries there is a core charge. For a $100 battery it might be $15. They take your old battery on purchase of a new one and wave that charge. They [the manufacturer] recycles the lead for new batteries. I am sure a battery shop would take them off your hands as it is money to them.

[Living Large]

I don't have any batteries yet but I am wondering how you get rid of them once their useful life is over. They should have value in the lead but all the acid is a negative.

Sincere kudos to you for looking ahead.

I was a systems engineer on a satellite called "UARS". I was new to satellites, and one thing that never occurred to me was "what happens when its useful life is over?" (related to) "when it runs out of fuel?"

Yep, it falls into the atmosphere. I didn't figure this out until 20 years later when it hit the news that it was about to fall to Earth.

[inetdog]

I don't have any batteries yet but I am wondering how you get rid of them once their useful life is over. They should have value in the lead but all the acid is a negative.

Well, you could follow the example of Telecom providers who swap out their battery banks periodically and just sell them to someone else as used batteries.

[Sunking]

Additionally the could be EPA permits and inspections involved which means you are responsible for the batteries from cradle to grave and any spills that might happen. Once you have more than 500 pounds of electrolyte all the rules change. Cross that line and you need a EPA permit, spill containment, Hazardous waste spill action plan, and yearly inspeections and all the RED Tape and signs that come with it. The Employment Prevention Agency is a wonderful thing.

[Willy T]

Additionally the could be EPA permits and inspections involved which means you are responsible for the batteries from cradle to grave and any spills that might happen. Once you have more than 500 pounds of electrolyte all the rules change. Cross that line and you need a EPA permit, spill containment, Hazardous waste spill action plan, and yearly inspeections and all the RED Tape and signs that come with it. The Employment Prevention Agency is a wonderful thing.

Once again a post that is FALSE. It's not the electrolyte that the 500 lbs apply to, it's the Sulfuric acid in the electrolyte that is a hazardous substance. The EPA deems that Battery acid is 1/3 third Sulfuric acid and 2/3 water to the gallon for reporting estimates and there are exemptions.

Electrolyte – Electrolyte in a lead-acid battery is roughly 1/3 sulfuric acid (CASRN # 7664-93-9) and 2/3 water. Sulfuric acid is considered an “Extremely Hazardous Substance” [EHS]. Report the amount of hazardous material in the electrolyte – not the amount of electrolyte itself. Report the amount by weight, not by volume

EXEMPTIONS
Any substance to the extent it is used
for personal, family, or household
purposes, or is present in the same
form and concentration as a product
packaged for distribution and use by
the general public.
Example: car batteries, bags of deicing
salt, pesticides sold in grocery stores.

EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS
SUBSTANCES (EHS)
Lead-acid Batteries
Approximate Calculation based on
total battery weight
 2/3 battery weight = Lead
 1/3 battery weight = battery acid
 1/3 battery acid weight = Sulfuric Acid
 1/9 (11%) battery weight = Sulfuric Acid

[lkruper]

...... Mod edit before this line.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/bu_307_electrolyte

"The electrolyte becomes primarily water when fully discharged"

I think I remember you from first grade. You are the one who ate the paste and picked his nose.