Battery Recycling
Started in August 2007, this program supplies the community with drop boxes for non-rechargeable household batteries. They are all taken to a recycling facility in Lower Michigan. There are two drop locations currently in the area, one in Big Bay at our office, and the other at the Marquette Food Co-op in Marquette. You may drop off non-rechargeable batteries of the A, C, D, and 9volt types for recycling. Recycling the Resource started because local citizens did not have an option for disposing of batteries in an environmentally sound manner. They were collected occassionally during hazardous waste pick ups but nothing accepted them anytime, let alone recycle them. So after some research, it was possible to offer this service to our community.
Often times in landfills, large amounts of battery acid (hydrochloric acid) can begin to break down the liner system that is in place and cause threat to local water systems. There are trace metals in batteries that could potentially leak out depending on the liner system. Batteries, even alkaline ones, often have small amounts of tin, nickel, mercury, and manganese. Our goal is to keep these from the water and also reduce the need for more raw materials.
