Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act - Effect

Effect

The intended objective of the Act was a reduction of heavy metals in municipal waste and in streams and ground water that resulted from the disposal of:

  1. Mercury in single-use (primary cell) batteries
  2. Toxic metal content such as lead from lead-acid batteries and the cadmium in rechargeable batteries, namely Ni-Cads

The sale of the first of these was banned (with the exception of the allowance of up to 25 mg of mercury per button cell) and the second family of products was given specific labeling and disposal requirements.

As a result, most retailers who sell rechargeable and other special batteries will take the old ones back for free recycling and safe disposal. The not-for-profit Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC), used by most retailers, reclaims the metals within the old batteries to make new products such as batteries (mercury, cadmium, lead) and stainless steel (nickel).

Read more about this topic:  Mercury-Containing And Rechargeable Battery Management Act

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