Don’t Trash That Car Battery

It’s hard to keep up with what you can and can’t throw away in the trash. Here in Missouri, you can get this information at the Department of Natural Resources website. The DNR does not recommend throwing away car batteries, and there are some very good reasons for that.

The first and probably most obvious reason is the rapid filling of America’s landfills. Unbelievably, almost ninety percent of all the raw materials we extract end up in landfills or go to the incinerator. These can all potentially be recyclable, but, because they are destroyed, they are extracted every day. There are 2000 active landfills in this country, and Americans throw out 4.4 pounds of trash a day. In other words, we need a solution.

In answer to the growing need, the industry of recycling is creating jobs across the country, according to the EPA.  It’s created 757,00 of them to be exact.

Auto battery waste is full of heavy metals and, left in landfills, that waste ends up in groundwater over time. The lead they contain seeps into the environment poisoning our water and harming our communities. There is no known lead exposure amount that is safe, and it’s particularly harmful to young children. However, it’s not only harmful to children.  Exposed adults have shown a vulnerability to high blood pressure and kidney disease after exposure.

Much of the lead we use today comes from recycling, reducing the amount extracted from the environment. By simply bringing your old battery into a recycling center, you can help eliminate waste and pollution, protecting your community in a small way. In addition,  you’ll make some money.

Contact us  for more information on recycling.

The post Don’t Trash That Car Battery appeared first on Scrap Mart Metals.