# recycling lead-acid batteries



## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I have just replaced my UPS battery, so I have an old/dead one to get rid of.
It's a sealed nonspillable lead-acid battery, about the size of two red bricks side by side, about half the weight of a car battery.

In the US, when buying these, you get a label to mail the old one back, free of charge (because the company can get the lead out and make a profit vs the cost of mailing it).

Or you could take it to a hazardous waste collection facility on a designated day, depending on where you live.

Here, what to do with it?

Would an auto place that sells car batteries take it? Just chuck it in the trash and let the pickers employed by the trash company that go through all the trash to separate recyclables pick it out?

In the city where I live we have a very stupid recycling scheme, in many places they have two trash cans, one for bio and one for non bio, but it all gets bagged together, tossed into the same trash truck, and then at the landfill they have people going through it all to separate out the recyclables (glass bottles, plastic bottles, etc) from the waste stream. So if I just tossed the battery in the trash it would probably get at least one look by such a person before hitting the landfill. But I'd prefer to do a little better than that if I can.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

Well - my quick answer is - take it to the Costco auto department. When you buy a new battery there they charge you a fee which you get back when you return the old battery (they do not change the battery for you. that's your job). AND - I know that they will take whatever auto battery you bring back. I generally replace car batteries based on the calendar and often my 'discarded' battery has a lot of life left. My mechanic has taken my battery from me and given me a really old, totally dissimilar battery which I have returned to Costco. So if they are that conscientious, perhaps they would put your battery on their existing pile for pickup.

One lesson to be learned in Mexico is - one man's garbage is another man's treasure. Almost everything has a use after you discard it. 

Here's two more simple suggestions. You might take the battery to the office of Siresol. Looks like they are like Waste Management in the US, and they have a website with contact address. Finally - the brand of my UPS is Smartbitt and they are a Mexican company (offices in Mexico CIty so someone there will speak English). Their webpage also has contact info. You could tell a 'white lie' and ask them for suggestions on what to do with one of their old batteries.


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