Recycling Your Laptop Battery

Each year, thousands of unwanted electronic devices are dumped into our landfills. This includes laptops and computers that are broken or obsolete. Many of them contain non-biodegradable materials that take hundreds of thousands of years to break down. Some even contain harmful materials that are toxic to humans and are dangerous if they may their way into the environment.

The most dangerous component of these devices is their batteries. Laptops use Lithium-Ion (or Li-Ion) batteries, a dry-cell battery with the average lifespan of 3-4 years. Americans alone purchase over 3 billion assorted dry-cell batteries per year. Just as many then are thrown away, heaping in our landfills and exposing their chemicals into the soil. From the soil, run off from rain can carry them into the ground water, polluting our drinking water supply.

In 1996, a ban was put in place that prohibited the use of deadly mercury in the production of batteries. Many consumers and electronics manufacturers have also switched to rechargeable batteries to decrease the amount of batteries that enter our landfills.

Despite that, the Li-Ion, nickel-cadmium (or "nicad"), NiMH and other heavy metals in rechargeable batteries are still quite toxic. If they’re incinerated, these heavy metals are released into the air we breathe. It’s crucial that when our electronics die or become obsolete, we dispose of them properly.

As part of the law that banned mercury in batteries, manufacturers are now also required to produce rechargeable batteries with recyclable materials. Some states, like California and New York, have made it illegal to simply throw away any rechargeable batteries. The Environmental Protection Agency set up a non-profit organization, The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation, to help organize and regulate the proper disposal of rechargeable batteries.

Once rechargeable batteries are collected, they’re shipped to a recycling facility in Pennsylvania, where they are separated and broken down based on their type. The reusable metals are extracted and then used to make new batteries or other materials, such as stainless steel. All possible elements are gathered for recycling and never make their way to our landfills.

From this process, organizations like the RBRC have saved our landfills from over 50 million pounds of rechargeable batteries from North America alone since 1996!

How can I do my part?

Disposing your old rechargeable batteries is easier than you think! The RBRC has set up the Call2Recycle program, a service designed to help people who want to make a difference. They offer free collection boxes and bags to contain your old batteries and electronics for turning them in. Most of the top retailers, such as Best Buy, Target, Home Depot, and more are participating in the program, offering drop-off centers at their stores.

To find the locations nearest to you, you can look up the listing on the Call2Recycle website, or call their toll-free helpline, 1-800-8-BATTERY.

You can also learn more about recycling other electronic equipment through organizations like Gcycle. Through these programs, we can minimize waste and landfill space by recycling old computers, monitors, video games, phones, and more!

Triangle Laptops is proud to do our part to help improve the environment and our health by recycling recyclable batteries and electronics. Together with CarbonFund.org and Synergy Recycling, we strive to incorporate efficient environmentally-friendly practices in our business.