You may not realize it, but batteries quietly power so much of our everyday lives, from phones and laptops to watches, toys, and smoke detectors. On National Battery Day, it’s a great moment to celebrate not just how useful batteries are, but how our community can make a real environmental difference when they’re spent.
1. Protect the Environment
Recycling batteries keeps toxic materials out of soil and waterways and prevents fires, helping protect local ecosystems and natural resources we all depend on.
Batteries are made of many of Mother Nature’s gifts, aka. natural resources, which are extracted, globally, through various methods.
Lithium salt, used to make computer and electric vehicle batteries, is extracted through dissolving earth-bound lithium salt in water then evaporating off the water, leaving solid lithium carbonate.
Zinc, lead and silver, used in button cell and car batteries, can be mined using pit mining methods as seen here.
Recycling batteries conserves these natural resources by reusing what was already extracted.
2. Turn Waste Into Resources
Batteries contain valuable materials that can be recovered and reused when recycled, reducing the need for new mining and conserving energy and raw materials. Thanks to the product stewardship organization, The Battery Network, Vermont has had a strong battery recycling program since 2014.
Batteries that can be readily recycled.
Drop-off batteries for recycling at CSWD drop-off locations or local retail partners.
3. Do the Right (and legal) Thing
In Vermont, disposing of batteries in the trash is illegal. Celebrating National Battery Day is a great reminder that recycling batteries is a simple, lawful way to keep our community safe and compliant.
Vermont’s history of battery recycling laws
Respect the battery; keep you and your community safe.
Thank you for working together to REDUCE environmental stress, REUSE natural resources , and RECYCLE all batteries.
