Author: Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY Published May 20, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO – Love your electronic devices all you want, but please, please, please don’t throw them in the trash when you’re done with them. That’s a plea from makers of the lithium-ion batteries that typically power our phones, laptops and even power tools. Thrown into the trash or even the recycling bin, they can cause fires at trash and recycling centers.

Last year, 65% of waste facilities fires in California began with lithium-ion batteries. And when one goes, others can, too. “If there are multiple batteries there, you will have not just a fire, you will have explosions,” said Carl Smith, CEO and president of Call2Recycle, a national recycling program funded by battery manufacturers. It's such a big problem that California has launched an awareness campaign to try to get consumers to keep these ever-so-useful but also potentially dangerous items out of garbage trucks and landfills. It's part of a national effort to keep increasingly common batteries from causing fires.

Those fires can be devastating. In March, an improperly tossed lithium-ion battery caused a five-alarm fire at a recycling facility in Queens in New York City. It burned for two days and shut down four branches of the Long Island Rail Road for several hours because of the thick smoke blowing onto the tracks. That same month, an Indianapolis recycling plant also shut down after a fire blamed on batteries. Last year, a lithium-ion battery thrown into the trash caused an explosion in a New York City garbage truck when the workers compacted the waste, igniting and exploding the battery.

Lithium-ion batteries are found in cellphones, laptop computers, cameras and rechargeable power tools and even the electric scooters that have risen in popularity in the past year, says Kerchner. They also power electric cars like Teslas and Chevy Bolts. When it comes to the lithium-ion batteries in everyday devices, consumers tend to put them in the recycling “hoping that somebody at the end of the line will recycle them eventually,” said George Kerchner, executive director of the Rechargeable Battery Association.

We use a lot of them. In 2017, 175 million pounds of lithium-ion batteries were sold into the U.S. market, according to Call2Recycle. The problem with lithium-ion batteries is the same thing that makes them so great; they’re small and light but still pack a serious energy punch. These are the same type of batteries that were catching fire in the recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7s; as well as many other Samsung and other phone models that don't regularly explode.

Even when they’ve pooped out in your device, there’s still enough charge in them that they can create a spark if the terminal of the battery; the metal bits that send power from the battery into the device; touch something metallic, like the side of a garbage truck. This can close the

circuit, which creates an electric charge that can create a spark. “And sparks create fires. If it’s at a recycling facility where it’s mixed in with paper and other items that are burnable, that just goes up like you wouldn’t believe,” Smith said. “These are high-energy batteries, no question about it. If they’re not properly handled, they can catch on fire," Kerchner said.

Nationally, lithium-ion batteries can be recycled at all Home Depots, Lowes and Best Buy stores.

If you put them in your recycling bin, put them in a closed plastic bag so that the battery can’t come into contact with metal. A Ziploc bag or something similar works well, said Smith. Don’t put them in the regular garbage, which is typically crushed and shredded. That can cause fires and even explosions. A less optimal but possible solution is to wrap either electrical or duct tape around the battery to cover the terminal, so that it can’t make contact with metal and therefore close the circuit, said Smith.

And note that lithium-ion batteries aren’t the same as the alkaline batteries that typically go into toys and other devices that don’t need really small, energy-dense batteries. Alkaline batteries can and should be recycled, but they don’t carry so much electrical charge that they’re a fire danger.

Recycling Automotive Fluids And Home Workshop Items

By Matt Vande Bunte G. R. Press Sunday July 3, 2016

An estimated $52 million of recyclable material gets dumped in the trash each year in West Michigan, according to a recent study. That includes a lot of plastic milk jugs, returnable cans and paper.

But what about items like, say, an old CD? Can that be recycled? A reader named Ty asked what to do with VCR tapes, cassette tapes, DVDs and CD-ROMs.

Here’s advice from Nic Vander-Vinne, the resource recovery and recycling manager for the Kent County Department of Public Works, on what to do with those and other items:

VCR TAPES, CASSETTE TAPES, DVDS AND CD-ROMS

“These are accepted through our electronics recycling program. We have three locations: the North Kent Transfer Station, the South Kent Landfill and the Recycling and Education Center.”

Don’t throw these items in your recycling bin with paper and plastic. Drop them off separately at the county locations or at private recyclers such as Comprenew.

BATTERIES

“We no longer accept alkaline batteries at our sites. We just take rechargeable batteries. Alkaline batteries are safe for the trash. There are some companies around Grand Rapids that will take alkaline batteries, but not very many.”

Comprenew charges $1 per pound to recycle batteries

FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULBS, MERCURY FROM A CLOCK WEIGHT

“These items can come to our Household Hazardous Waste Collection sites for free disposal. We have four locations around the county to best serve our residents. Our website (recyclekent.org) has the locations and hours each site is open for dropoff.”

COMPUTER PRINTERS, VCRS AND TELEVISIONS

“These can be accepted at our electronics recycling drop-offs. Most electronics are accepted for free, but CRT TVs will be charged a fee to recycle them to recover the leaded glass that is inside.”

Here’s a fee schedule based on screen size:
•27 inches or smaller, Kent County resident with ID: $20.
•Larger than 27 inches, Kent County resident with ID: $40.
•27 inches or smaller, non-Kent County resident: $30.
•Larger than 27 inches, non-Kent County resident: $50.

Comprenew also takes cathode ray tube televisions and monitors for a fee:
•14 inches: $7.
•15 inches: $8.
•17 inches: $12.
•19 inches: $20.
•24 inches: $23.
•27 inches: $25.
•32 inches: $35.
•37 inches: $45.
•42 inches (including projection TVs): $50.

FABRIC

“Most thrift stores will accept clothes and textiles for reuse or repurpose.”

Also, if you’re feeling crafty, go to Pinterest, which has dozens of ideas for repurposing, reusing and recycling fabrics.

DAMAGED BOOKS, HARDCOVER BOOKS, GLOSSY MAGAZINES

“These can be a little tricky. Magazines can go in your recycle bin as is. Books that contain a hard cover or thick binding can be a little troublesome. The best way is to tear the cover and the binding off and recycle the paper.”

Nu-Wool Insulation
2472 Port Sheldon Road
Georgetown Township, Michigan 49426
616-669-0100
They take newspaper, office paper, and phone books.

Nu-Wool supports Habitat for Humanity!!