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Trash Thursday
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Thursday
26Nov2009

Is Recycling in a Recession?

 California, often cited as the leader in environmental standards and other green activities, is having difficulties maintaining its recycling program.  Simply put, it is in distress due to financial issues.  Mired in debt and litigation, Governor Schwarzenegger and state legislators are scrapping over how to resolve the program's budget.  More...

Simple economics appear to be winning, with recycling the loser in the current recession.  Times are tough and the market for recycled products is suffering.  More...

Meanwhile, a recent survey by Pike Research found that 37% of consumers think that e-waste recycling should be a free service.   Who should pay for recycling e-waste?   More...

Thursday
15Oct2009

Recycle Your Old Cell Phone

Cell phone recyclingDid you know that less than 5% of cell phones are recycled?  Cell phones contain a number of hazardous toxins that pollute our ground soil and water system when not recycled or disposed of responsibly.   These toxins include antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc.  They are persistent, lingering in the surrounding environment for long periods of time without breaking down.  These toxins are associated with a wide range of reproductive, neurological, and developmental disorders;  and of course cancer.  Unfortunately, all of the toxins from cell phones have all been discovered in the typical human body.

Most people do not realize that, in addition to the environmental problems created by cell phone disposal, there is also an ongoing humanitarian crisis.  The issue has to do with the Democratic Repubic of the Congo (DRC) formerly called Zaire.  The DRC has been in a state of civil war for over a decade.  The war has been fuelled primarily by an ore called columbite-tantalite, or colton.  When refined, the mineral is used to make capacitors found in cell phones and other portable electronic devices.  80% of the known reserves of this ore are located in the DRC.  Rebels have been illegally mining colton to fund their war efforts.  Up to 10 million civilians have been slaughtered since 1996 when the war began.

Another side effect of mining colton has been large forest areas being depopulated, resulting in a decrease in the gorilla population in the DRC by 90% in less than a decade.  The African elephants have suffered a similar fate.  Get the picture?

Cell phones are one of the most recyclable products there is.  Most can be re-used by various groups of people.  There are charities you can donate your old cell phone to or you can also sell the old phone to recycling companies.

Thursday
08Oct2009

Battery Recycling and Disposal

Did you know that there are more than 250 thousand tons of (or 3.5 billion) batteries produced annually for the North American consumer market?   Many of these batteries eventually make it into landfill sites, approximately 600 tons of batteries per day.

They are not recycled simply because the cost of recycling is much higher than mining the raw materials.  What happens after that?   Over time the battery cases become breached and dangerous heavy metals leach into the surrounding ground and water.  The most toxic metals are mercury, cadmium and lead, metals found in many common types of batteries.

Below is a summary of some popular types of battery and their recommended disposal method:

Alkaline contains mercury and potassium hydroxide (corrosive).  Newer alkaline batteries have much less mercury content than old alkaline batteries.  For this reason many landfill bans have been lifted for Alkaline batteries.  Check with your local hazardous waste program for specifics concerning disposal of alkaline batteries.
 
Carbon-Zinc  has no mercury and can generally be thrown in the garbage.

NiCad (Nickel-Cadmium) are rechargeable batteries popular with consumers.  These batteries must be recycled.   They should never be put in the garbage.

Nickel metal hydride provide less of a threat to the environment than NiCad batteries but manufacturers or third party recyclers offer to recycle these batteries and therefore should be recycled.   There are several  mail-in programs that can be found on the internet.

Lithium Ion are recycled same as nickel metal hydride.

Button Cell  contains small amounts of mercury that has been added to prevent gases that could rupture the battery case.  These batteries could be classified as hazardous waste depending on the size of the battery.  They can be taken to jewellery stores for recycling or other places where the spent batteries can be exchanged for new.

Lead Acid can be taken to auto parts stores and any store they can be purchased at.

Before taking batteries for recycling or disposal the batteries should be sorted / separated by type.  Place each type into a separate plastic bag for easier handling. 

Always be careful when handling spent batteries.  Some suffer from corrosion.  In rare instances spent batteries may explode if handled incorrectly.  Never store or hold new batteries together with old.