Cast Your Vote for Recycling

This week’s election may have divided us as a nation, but there’s one thing on which most would agree:  we need to do a better job of recycling.

Thankfully, there’s a day for that. America Recycles Day, turning 15 on November 15, may not rank up there in the public consciousness with major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, but an estimated 2 million people will celebrate it at public events ranging from electronics collections to a recycled art show. Though many of the events will be fun, there’s a serious side to recycling that should not be overlooked.

• Recycling creates jobs. Millions of Americans are employed by companies that recycle, but consider this fact: much of the recycling effort cannot happen without public participation. The simple act of recycling and buying recycled products can create the momentum that builds materials markets and fills the supply chain of recycled materials that can help fuel our economy.  
• Recycling makes a huge difference in our communities. There are some interesting stats out there. For example, the number of cans recycled every 30 seconds equals the number of people who could fill an entire pro football stadium. Recycling just one aluminum can saves the energy equivalent of powering a 46-inch LED TV for 3 hours.  A glass container can go from the recycling bin to a store shelf in as few as 30 days. The list goes on and on. 
• Recycling is not that difficult. It just takes basic knowledge and a sincere commitment to become an active, effective participant.

 “Command central” for America Recycles Day is this website. It’s where you can register your recycling event, find a local event to attend or at the very least, make a deeper commitment to sustainability. The site offers a Recycling Locator by category, a cool way to reduce the number of unwanted catalogues you receive in the mail, and other goodies.

Most importantly, recycling is not, and cannot, be a one-day event. It requires a 24/7/365 effort by all of us to find the best ways to recycle, reuse and reclaim.

Best Practices for Battery Recycling

With recycling costs rising steadily, a lot of recycling companies have decided to stop accepting alkaline batteries. But EverLights wasn’t about to give up that easily. Instead, we went out and found a new, state-of-the-art process that will save money and guarantee that 100 percent of materials are recycled.

Now you’re probably wondering why this process is so great, right?

Every alkaline battery we receive is placed in a machine that splits it into three separate commodities. The batteries are broken down into 60 to 70 percent zinc and manganese concentrate, 10 to 20 percent steel and 10-20 percent paper and plastic (percentages vary based on how much of each material is in each battery).

The materials that are produced are then sent to manufacturers across the United States to be recycled into new products, including new alkaline batteries.

We know we spend a lot of time on this blog preaching about the importance of recycling and suggesting best practices for recycling certain materials. But we recently came to a realization. What good is it asking you to recycle if we can’t prove to you that your materials are handled with care?

As a company that takes pride in our recycling practices, we feel very confident letting our customers and readers know exactly where the materials we accept end up. We’re incredibly excited about this and want to make sure everyone knows how it works.

EverLights is proud to offer the best battery recycling process possible. If you want to learn more about how things work, or want to start recycling your batteries the right way, please give us a call at (877) 934-9873

The Easiest Way to Recycle Batteries

Setting up a recycling program of any type for your office can seem like a hassle. You have to find a recycling company, order bins, consolidate products from those bins into one larger bin and then schedule a drop-off or pick-up for those materials. A lot of us are so overwhelmed with the work we do already that adding another thing to the list isn’t our top priority. We understand that completely, which is why we offer the easiest way to recycle batteries. Our mail-in recycling program makes battery recycling as easy as 1, 2, 3.

1. Order – Choose from one of our mail-in battery recycling products. Place your order online or on the phone, and we’ll send it out right away. The cost of shipping and recycling is included in the price you pay.
2. Pack – Fill the tube or pail with batteries as they start to expire. Both battery recycling products can hold up to 55 pounds of batteries.
3. Ship – Once your package is full of batteries, call FedEx to come pick them up. The cost of shipping the pail or tube back to us is included in the original price. Once we’ve received and processed the batteries, we’ll send you a certificate of recycling stating that your company successfully recycled the batteries following all laws and regulations.

Click to Order: Battery Recycling Tube

Our recycling services don’t stop at batteries. We recycle lamps, ballasts, mercury containing products and electronic waste as well. You can find products to help you easily recycle any of these materials on our website. If you have any questions at all, give us a call at (877) 934-9873 or send us an email at info@everlights.com and we’ll be more than happy to help you.

What is a Mail-In Recycling Program?

A lot of businesses don’t go through lamps very quickly. Smaller locations use less, so naturally they have less to recycle. The easiest thing to do would be toss the lamps in the garbage with everything else, right? Wrong. There are better solutions than putting yourself (you can be charged up to $25,000) and others at risk. The best option for businesses that don’t use a lot of lamps is a recycling pak program. What is that, you ask?

Simply put, a recycling pak program is an easy, convenient way for businesses to recycle their lamps, ballast, batteries and even mercury. A lot of recycling companies offer mail-in services as a way for those who don’t go through a lot of these items to store and recycle them without much hassle. We call ours “EverMail,” but pak programs all serve the same purpose.

Pak programs work as follows:

1. Go online or call the recycling company to order boxes or pails
2. Fill the boxes or pails as needed
3. When your box or pail is full, fill out the shipping information, seal it, and send it back to the recycling company
4. Once your items have been processed you’ll be sent a Certificate of Recycling

These programs are ideal for retail, large and small corporations, sites with limited storage space, and de-centralized locations that generate minimal amounts of universal waste. The price of our EverMail program includes the cost of the box, shipping to and from EverLights, recycling fees and the certificate of recycling.

Click to Order EverMail Recycling Products

Next time you’re replacing lamps in your office or building, think about the options you have for getting rid of them, and make sure you put “throw them out” at the bottom of the list. If you don’t think using a pak program is your best option, you can also drop them off at, or call to have them picked up by, a number of places, including EverLights.

Where Do Your Recycled Batteries Go?

A recent story published by The New York Times discussed the problems associated with sending recycled batteries to other countries for processing. If you took the time to read the article, you may now realize the serious consequences that can come from sending batteries to countries with fewer regulations. If you didn’t see the article, we’ll go over a few of the highlights to help you understand why it’s so important to choose a battery recycling company that breaks down batteries in the United States, following all laws and regulations. While this article focused on batteries that were being sent to Mexico, these facts can also be applied to other foreign countries.

Rising Cost of Recycling in the US

Due to new standards on lead pollution put in place by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recycling batteries and other products that contain lead is becoming increasingly expensive. So expensive, in fact, that many recycling companies no longer accept batteries with lead in them. Many companies who still accept lead batteries use a loophole which allows them to export materials to be broken down in other countries for far less money.

According to the article, “An analysis of trade statistics by The New York Times shows that about 20 percent of spent American vehicle and industrial batteries are now exported to Mexico, up from 6 percent in 2007.”

EverLights does not believe in this practice. We continue to accept all batteries for recycling, including those that contain lead. No need to worry though. We partner with vendors who will break down the batteries in the US, ensuring the safety of the workers who handle the material and the community surrounding the plant.

Lack of Money to Regulate Battery Recycling

With a weak economy comes an inability to regulate and control problem areas. This is one of the major factors in the ever-increasing struggle against poor recycling standards in Mexico, as well as other countries around the world. While Mexico does have some regulations in place, they are far less strict than those in the US, and a lack of funding from the government makes it nearly impossible for them to be enforced.

In the US, lead battery recyclers operate in sealed, highly mechanized plants. Smokestacks are fitted with scrubbers, and their perimeters are surrounded by lead-monitoring devices. In Mexico, however, batteries are dismantled by men with hammers, and the lead is melted in furnaces whose smokestacks pour into the air outside, putting communities at risk.

Serious Health and Safety Issues

Many of the plants that batteries are sent to are located in communities with schools, houses and businesses. Children who grow up around these plants have a high risk of developing health problems early in life because they are constantly exposed to the lead in the air.

Spent batteries that are sent to these plants can contain up to 40 pounds of lead each. If lead enters a person’s system, it can lead to serious health problems, including high blood pressure, kidney damage, abdominal pain in adults, and serious developmental delays and behavioral problems in young children. When batteries are broken down, lead is released into the air and contaminates the surrounding communities.

Because of the high demand for lead and the amount of money it can bring in, foreign countries probably won’t be banning the import of the materials any time soon. But will the United States create a ban on exporting lead batteries to other countries? Although we haven’t heard anything supporting that question, there are plenty of people who like the idea, and the increasing restrictions on smokestack emissions lead us to believe it’s something to keep an eye out for.

The battery recycling industry is constantly changing and becoming safer, but there is always room for improvement. Keep following Our Take on Green so you don’t miss out on any news about battery recycling and other universal waste disposal.

EverLights Battery Recycling Pail

How The Battery Recycling Process Works

It’s been brought to our attention that a lot of people are interested in learning more about battery recycling and how it works. As a follow up to one of our previous posts, “Why You Need to Start Recycling Batteries,” this article will explain the recycling process after the recycling companies, like EverLights, receive your batteries. The way batteries are recycled varies depending on the type of battery.

Lead Acid Batteries

While lead acid batteries have a higher amount of hazardous material than other batteries, they are also the most commonly recycled item (even more than aluminum cans). Plastic, lead and sulfuric acid are all extracted during the recycling process and reused in new products. At the beginning of the recycling process, the battery is broken into pieces. The broken battery pieces are then placed in water, where the lead and heavy materials fall to the bottom, and the plastic floats. At this point, the plastic pieces are scooped away and the liquids are drawn off, leaving only the lead and heavy metals. Each of the materials then goes through a different recycling stream.

• Plastic: The plastic pieces are washed, dried and sent to a plastic recycler where they are melted down. The plastic is then turned in to pellets and sent to a battery case manufacturer where the process starts all over. In some cases, the plastic may also be sent to other plastic manufacturers for use in different products.

• Lead: Lead parts from the batteries are cleaned and heated in smelting furnaces. The liquid form of the metal is then poured into ignot molds. Any impurities that are found are scraped off the top and the ingots are cooled down. Once the ingots are cool, the metal is removed from the molds and sent to metal manufacturers, where they can be used to create a number of products, including new batteries.

• Sulfuric Acid: During this recycling process, the acid from the battery can be handled in one of two ways. First, the acid can be neutralized and turned into water. The water is cleaned, treated and tested to make sure it meets clean water standards before it can be used. The acid may also be processed and converted to sodium sulfate. This odorless white powder is then reused to make products like laundry detergent and glass.

Alkaline Batteries

Alkaline batteries are melted down in furnaces, turned into a molten substance and eventually separated into zinc and metal. Both materials are then used to make new products, including low-grade steel.

Lithium-Ion Batteries 

At the beginning of the recycling process, lithium-ion batteries are shredded and separated into commodities. The contents of the batteries are submerged in water and the metals are recovered. This metal is then cleaned and sold to metal recyclers.

The carbon and lithium from inside the battery are also extracted and recovered during the process. The carbon is pressed into sheets, and the lithium is converted into lithium carbonate. The lithium carbonate is used to make lithium ingot metal and foil for batteries. It also provides lithium metal for resale and for the manufacture of sulfur dioxide batteries.

Nickel Cadmium Batteries

Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries are recycled using a high temperature recycling process. During this process, all of the high temperature metals contained within the battery (nickel, iron, cobalt, manganese, and chromium) are placed in a molten-metal bath within the furnace, and are then solidified during the casting operation. The low-melt metals (i.e. zinc, lithium, and cadmium) separate during the melting operation and are collected as a metal-oxide.

These aren’t the only batteries that can be recycled, but they are the most important. If you have any questions about the recycling process for other batteries, please feel free to contact us at any time.

EverLights offers products and services that make battery recycling as simple as possible. Purchase one of our mail-in products, fill it up, and send it back. It’s that easy.

Sources:

Battery Solutions

Batteries Plus

Why You Need to Start Recycling Batteries

We all use Batteries on a daily basis. Whether it’s a car battery, a cell phone battery or the batteries used in your remote control, you’re using them more than you might realize. That is, until they stop working and it’s time to change them. Take a second to think about what you do with those batteries when they run out of juice. Do you throw them away, or do you make sure you recycle them properly? Did you know that many batteries contain hazardous materials that, under federal regulation, have to be recycled?

On May 13, 1996, the Mercury-Containing Rechargeable Battery Management Act (Battery Act) was signed into law by the U.S. government to prevent the release of those hazardous substances into the environment. Under the Battery Act, manufacturers had to begin phasing out the use of mercury in batteries. The second part of the act provides for the efficient and cost-effective collection and recycling of used batteries, including nickel cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries, small sealed lead-acid (SSLA) batteries and certain other batteries.

The Battery Act also established national, uniform labeling requirements for “regulated batteries” and “rechargeable consumer products.” It also allows the EPA to fine businesses up to $10,000 for not following the regulations. Nobody wants to get fined for something he or she can easily control, so it’s important to know the different types of batteries and which ones need to be recycled.

Click Here For the Easiest Way to Recycle Batteries

Alkaline Batteries

Alkaline batteries are one of the most commonly used batteries. You can put them in pretty much any of your household products, from remote controls to your camera. When the Battery Act was passed, it phased out the use of mercury in alkaline batteries. Even though these batteries don’t contain mercury, you can still recycle them. All batteries contain metals, which can still be harmful to the environment, even if it isn’t a very noticeable amount. While you can throw them away, we suggest recycling them with your other batteries.

Lithium-Ion (Li-ion)

Li-ion batteries are often found in electronic devices, such as cell phones and laptop computers. These batteries don’t contain many toxic chemicals, but could still be considered dangerous when placed in a landfill or incinerated. When exposed to high temperatures, Li-ion batteries have the potential to overheat and explode, causing what metals they do contain to enter the atmosphere. These batteries usually last until the electronic device they power needs to be disposed of. Most recycling companies that accept e-waste will also take your batteries.

Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd) Batteries

Ni-Cd batteries contain the toxic metal cadmium, and therefore must be recycled under this regulation. The metals in Ni-Cd batteries contain no threat to human health or the environment while they are in use. If the batteries are landfilled or incinerated, however, the metals could find their way into our food and water sources. There are a number of simple options for consumers and businesses to recycle these batteries, including mail-in programs, offered by recycling companies.

Silver Oxide Batteries

Silver oxide batteries, also known as button cell batteries, contain mercury, meaning they have to be recycled. Button cell batteries tend to have long lives, and won’t need to be disposed of as often. When you do need to dispose of one, check with your state or county to find out if they are accepted as part of a household hazardous waste program. Recycling companies, like EverLights, will also accept them and recycle them properly.

Lead Acid Batteries

Lead acid batteries are one of the most harmful products when landfilled, but also have the highest rate of recycling. Plastic, lead and sulfuric acid, the three substances uses to make lead acid batteries, are all incredibly dangerous if they are released in to the atmosphere. When you’re swapping out one of these batteries, check with the store you’re using to see if they recycle the batteries. If not, bring the battery to a local recycling center that accepts them.

Our suggestion to businesses is to play it safe when it comes to battery recycling. Instead of trying to determine what needs to be recycled and what doesn’t, send all of your batteries to a recycling company. Doing this will ensure you don’t receive one of those $10,000 fines, and it will save you from wasting time researching which battery is which. You can also read more about the Battery Act here.

EverLights will accept all batteries as part of our recycling services. Our packaging makes the storage and transportation of your spent batteries as simple as possible. If you want more information on battery recycling, contact us via email at info@everlights.com, by phone at 773-734-9873, or visit our website at www.everlights.com