Federal law and some state laws, including Maine allows these mercuric oxide batteries to continue to be sold but only if the manufacturer has established a system to collect waste batteries and ensure that the mercury is properly managed.
These U. The following is a list of companies and button-cell battery products that have reportedly been eliminated from the U. Radica China Ltd. Little Tikes Company reported to IMERC-member states that they phased-out the manufacture of mercury-added button-cell batteries in some of their toys e.
These watches were not manufactured or sold in the or reporting years and will not be available for sale in the future. Their toys containing mercury-added button-cell batteries are no longer manufactured or sold in the U.
Protective Technologies International, Inc. However, many of these models are more expensive than the mercury counterparts and may not be commercially available in the U. Lithium button-cell batteries and non-miniature cylindrical alkaline batteries do not contain mercury.
These may be a suitable alternative to mercury-containing button-cell batteries, depending on the end product and its power needs. Pollution Prevention. Solid Waste. Sodium hydroxide cells have nearly constant voltage at low discharge currents, making them ideal for hearing aids, calculators, and electronic watches. Potassium hydroxide cells, in turn, provide constant voltage at higher currents, making them suitable for applications requiring current surges, such as photographic cameras with flash and watches with a backlight.
Potassium hydroxide cells also have better performance at lower temperatures. The intended objective of the act was to reduce heavy metals in municipal waste, streams, and ground water. This resulted from the disposal of mercury in single-use batteries, as well as of other toxic metal content such as lead from lead-acid batteries and the cadmium in rechargeable batteries.
The law therefore sought to phase out the use of mercury in batteries due to the environmental damage it caused. Boundless vets and curates high-quality, openly licensed content from around the Internet. Check them out! The Recycle Smart Facebook post that got the most shares and comments during the month of July was this link to a Boston Globe article on swap shops. Enjoy the sun! Mercury Batteries Rising. Mercury and rechargeable batteries fall under the federal Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable Battery Act and thus can be recycled for free through national product stewardship programs like Call2Recycle , which is an organization funded by battery manufacturers that collects and recycles or safely disposes of applicable batteries.
Unlike the rechargeable battery program, there is currently no national stewardship law for free recycling of single-use batteries such as AAA, AA, 9V, C, or D cell — except in Vermont. These batteries do not contain mercury so when they are done, you can throw them in the trash. Photo credits: Call2Recycle. Recycle Smart is Rockin' and Rollin'. We hit an all-time high of new users visiting the Recyclopedia , an easy-to-use online search tool where you can find recycling answers for hundreds of items.
We also saw a huge jump in subscribers to this newsletter — welcome everyone! These batteries do not pose a health risk when in use since the chances of the mercury leaking out are small. The mercury in button cell batteries can escape into the environment after they have been thrown away and are either incinerated or end up in landfills.
Though there are no federal regulations prohibiting throwing button cell batteries in the regular garbage, they should be recycled. If they are not recycled, almost all of this mercury in them can end up in waste that gets incinerated or landfilled. If incinerated, the mercury can end up back in the air; if landfilled, it could end up in groundwater, and potentially in sources of drinking water.
In addition, keep in mind that states or municipalities may prohibit throwing button cell batteries into the trash.
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