An investigation of mass and brand diversity in a spent battery recycling collection with an emphasis on spent alkaline batteries: Implications for waste management and future policy concerns

A count of the type and brand of spent alkaline batteries from a collection program operated by Butler County, Ohio was performed to determine the level of brand diversity, to provide estimates of the size of the waste stream, and quantities collected for recycling and for landfilling. The program has a total of 37 school drop off sites at both public and private elementary, middle and high schools. Several additional sites for battery drop include public libraries in the towns of Hamilton, Fairfield, Oxford, two county government administration centers, and two major retail stores in Fairfield and West Chester townships.A total of 32,866 spent alkaline batteries with a calculated mass of approximately 943.37 kg representing 10–15% of the recycling collection were counted by size and brand type. All five types (AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V) of spent alkaline batteries had approximately 68–76% of the samples concentrated among three or four brands. The number of brands varied among types with AAA (123); AA (228); C (44); D (65); 9V (79). The total annual spent alkaline waste stream mass for Butler County is estimated to be 84,665 kg, and a mass of the spent alkaline battery waste stream collected for Butler County is approximately 7.4% (6289.1 kg) to 11.1% (9433.7 kg). Several other battery types (lead, Ni–Cd, lithium, and button batteries) were observed and comprised 60.2 kg.Butler County spends $10,000 to collect the batteries each year and the estimated cost for collecting all batteries in the County would be an additional minimum cost of $144,000 to $186,000 per year translating into a per capita cost of approximately $0.39–0.51 per Butler County resident annually. The results of this investigation are useful for recycling program development, developing environmental policies specific to the United States and can be used for comparative purposes with other battery waste streams globally.

► To our knowledge this is the most detailed count of a battery recycling collection.
► Over 32,000 batteries (900+ kg) were counted from a very representative collection.
► The paper is written to be of use to many disciplines.