However, before just picking any recycling service to take your used battery load, it’s important to know that, depending on the type of battery being dealt with, specialized processes are required to properly recover reusable materials. Finding a recycling service that can perform these specialized processes is recommended.

Disposable Dry Cell Batteries

When these items are brought to the recycling center, they need to first be sorted into their different chemistries. Then, they undergo specific processes to recovery important elements such as mercury, zinc, and silver that can be used to create other products.

Rechargeable Dry Cell Batteries

A rechargeable battery is often found in smartphones, cameras, and other electronics. Unlike disposable cells, rechargeable batteries can be used again after they have been drained of power.

NiCd batteries are recycled to recover iron and cadmium while recycling NiMH batteries would yield reusable iron and nickel. Metals such as cobalt and copper can be recovered from spent Li-Ion batteries.

Wet Cell Batteries

Wet cell batteries are primarily used to power vehicles and act as a secondary power source for industries. Recycling a wet cell battery would require separating materials such as acid, lead and plastics then subjecting the remainder of the battery to heat treatment in a furnace.

Not all recycling centers accept every type of battery for recycling. Local car shops may offer a trade-in value for old car batteries and many recycling plants have special facilities for batteries. Click to learn more about proper battery recycling.