ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

Batteries provide convenient and portable power for many household uses as well as
many commercial and industrial applications. They play an ever-increasing role in our
lives and their use will expand significantly in coming years. Batteries are great while
they work, but when their useful life is over, we must find ways to dispose of them
that don’t harm the environment. Already a big concern, this challenge becomes more
concerning as battery use proliferates.

Most batteries rely on chemical reactions involving heavy metals such as lead,
cadmium, and nickel with electrolytes to produce power. Finding ways to deal with
these chemicals is a difficult yet critical environmental issue. Federal, state, and local
regulations are in place to govern the collection and management of used batteries
and other hazardous wastes. Many municipal and commercial programs attempt to
reduce the quantities of these materials that end up in solid waste landfills or
incinerators. The success of such programs depends greatly on consumer behavior to
separate used batteries from other domestic waste and to make sure that the batteries
are disposed of properly.

A related approach to the problem of disposal is to greatly expand the use of

rechargeable batteries and battery recycling. Widespread use of rechargeable
batteries can greatly reduce the waste stream. Despite their higher initial cost,
rechargeable batteries have been shown to be lower in total cost than disposable
types. Recycling is also very promising since the heavy metals and other materials that
make up the batteries can often be reclaimed for reuse. Many local communities have
established programs for battery recycling and such programs can also reduce the
waste stream significantly.

Source: (Moran & Shapiro, 2014)

Reference

Moran, M. J., Shapiro, H. N., Boettner, D. D. & Bailey M B. (2014). Fundamentals of

Engineering Thermodynamics (Edició n: 8). John Wiley & Sons.