While we were at the Selectmen's Meeting on Monday night, we overheard a bit of discussion while Selectmen Thompson and Nadeau were signing Accounts Payable slips.
The discussion was about batteries.
Odd topic of discussion at a Selectmen's meeting, you might think. Well..... so did we....
Sandy has been on top of me all day to find out more about the batteries being delivered for recycling from the Lebanon Transfer Station.
I've been trying to call Selectman Thompson all day, but he must be busy as he didn't return my call.
So I took matters into my own hands and did a little investigating.
I found the name of the Portsmouth NH company that picks up Lebanon Transfer Station batteries for recycling, and calling them, I was referred to the Sales Representative who handles their Lebanon Transfer Station account. His name is Chip Martin and he is very informative and helpful.
In July, our transfer station generated a charge of $17.25 for the disposal of alkaline batteries. Alkaline batteries are your standard non-rechargeable batteries, purchased in standard sizes for a variety of uses in your everyday household needs.
According to Martin, Alkaline batteries are nothing but cardboard containers with a bit of metal at each end and filled with salt. Yup, SALT. He says that they don't even promote recycling of them, as all that is recyclable is the tiny bit of metal at either end. Martin says these batteries are costing the town 75 cents each through his company. So when you think that you are doing some kind of good by separating out your alkaline batteries for recycling, it's not really doing much good at all. In fact, Mr. Martin told Lebanon Truth Seekers that they actually tell their clients that they can save a good deal of money by just tossing them into the dumpster with their regular trash.
Photo of typical alkaline batteries.
These should be just tossed, along with your regular household trash.
Other types of batteries, your nickel-cadmium (NiCad), Lithium, and rechargeable batteries contain some percentage of mercury, which IS harmful to the environment and therefore SHOULD be presented separately from your normal household rubbish. Although the collection of these batteries also costs the town money, there is a good reason for that. When these batteries are collected, they are shipped to a special facility that heats the batteries under extreme pressure to release the mercury. The metal parts of these batteries are melted down and sold as scrap, but the mercury itself is not recycled. According to Mr. Martin, the facilities have to store the mercury on-site for indefinite periods of time, likening these facilities to other hazardous waste storage companies.
Button batteries have some of the highest mercury content and should be presented at the
Transfer Station for disposal by specialists.
ANY form of rechargeable battery contain chemicals and should be presented separate from regular household trash to your Town Transfer Station employees for proper disposal.
Most large tool batteries are Ni-Cad batteries and contain chemicals harmful to the environment and should be presented to your Transfer Station separately from regular household trash.
Lithium batteries are used to power much of the world's cell phones and small electronic equipment. These batteries contain harmful chemicals and should be presented separately from normal household trash for proper disposal.
Batteries do not cost you anything to dispose of at the Transfer Station. You just hand the bag to the attendant and they'll do the rest!!
Please share this information with your friends and neighbors. Disposal of Alkaline (which can be safely tossed in with your normal household trash) cost the town $17.25 in July. If that were averaged over 12 months, the unnecessary cost to the town would be $207.00 per year. That's not much until you realize that that is enough to pay a part time employee a week's salary!
While we applaud the town's willingness to recycle, the Alkaline batteries are not recyclable and should, instead, be tossed in the Hefty bags along with the rest of the week's trash.
Please also take a moment to remind the Transfer Station employees that these batteries can, and should be tossed right into the dumpsters instead of being presented to the special waste collection company.
We also asked the question as to how the town can generate a credit rather than a debt in disposal of special disposables. The answer we received was very interesting. It seems that due to the fact that oil prices have fallen substantially, plastics and metals are not generating the recycling market prices that they have been in the past. It's actually cheaper for companies to create new plastics and metal pieces than it is to go through the cost and labor needed to sort and process materials for recycling. While we do not promote tossing recyclables, you should know what recyclables generate the most profit for the town at this time. Computers. Old or out dated computer equipment, laptops, video games and electronics. Because all of these items contain copper in their wiring and inner parts, used computer equipment is a CREDIT generator rather than a cost to the town. So now is the time to get all that old computer equipment out of your basements, garages and cellars and bring them to the Transfer Station, being sure to give them separately to the attendants for recycling.
DO YOUR PART..........
TOSS ALKALINE BATTERIES IN THE DUMPSTER!!
RECYCLE CHEMICAL LADEN BATTERIES TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT!!
and
BRING IN OLD COMPUTER EQUIPMENT AND ELECTRONICS for RECYCLING!!!
