Dangerous Contamination: Batteries, Battery-containing Items
The Northern Virginia Regional Commission is pleased to provide staff support to the Northern Virginia Waste Management Board. This blog post is the first of several on the challenges facing our region with respect to recycling and waste disposal.
Battery use has exploded in our daily lives, with many items not clearly marked as including batteries as a component. Most rechargeable batteries contain reactive and explosive materials and should never be discarded as trash or set out with curbside recycling.Â
Due to the chemical processes that make them work, batteries rely on hazardous materials that can cause intense fires and explosions when the battery is damaged, and has led to fires and damage to the waste and recycling system, risking the health of workers and the community and destroying valuable infrastructure that’s expensive and takes time to replace.Â
The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has a campaign to educate and provide resources to the public that can be accessed here: https://www1.mwcog.org/dep/gorecycle/. The proper way to manage old and unwanted batteries is to deliver them to special drop off areas at your local Household Hazardous Waste drop-off center, or through using other resources provided through the Call 2 Recycling program https://www.call2recycle.org/
The Northern Virginia Waste Management Board has also addressed proper management of batteries and other hazardous materials at the www.knowtoxics.com website, and offers a fact sheet on batteries that can be found here.
No hazardous material belongs in the trash or in your recycling bin. Examples of hazardous materials include (but are not limited to) aerosols, solvents, pesticides, and any material that is toxic, flammable, reactive, or explosive. Learn more about commonly found hazardous waste and hazardous materials:
https://www.epa.gov/hw/learn-basics-hazardous-waste,
https://www.osha.gov/safety-management/hazard-Identification
About the Northern Virginia Regional Commission
NVRC is a consortium of thirteen local governments representing more than 2.5 million residents. The region has a GDP of $250 Billion which is 41.4% of the GDP of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Northern Virginia’s GDP is larger than 23 states and the District of Columbia and if a country would be the 49th largest economy in the world.
About the Northern Virginia Waste Management Board
The NVWMB consists of professional solid waste management leaders from every municipality in the Northern Virginia Region, including the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William, the Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park, and the Towns of Dumfries, Herndon, Leesburg, and Vienna.