Recycling is the best way to dispose of an old laptop battery. To find the nearest battery recycling center, use Call2Recycle’s locator tool. Trashing old laptop batteries could have adverse effects on the environment. Here are a few ways to discard or recycle a laptop battery.
1. Getting Rid of a Laptop Battery
Recycling an old battery however inconvenient is better than trashing it in the garbage. The battery could be a fire hazard, when stored on your shelf, and a threat to the ecosystem if not thrown away with care.
You can start with Call2Recycle, a recycling company that provides battery recycling services for major retailers in the United States. However, living in a rural area, you can search your community’s waste management service website for a store.
Place your laptop battery in a disposable container like a plastic bag and seal it. Learn how to remove your battery from your laptop’s manual or company website. Next, take it to the recycling center, avoiding possible damage to the battery, as damaged batteries are rejected at the centers.
2. Non-Functional Laptop Battery
A damaged battery shows bulging or cracking with burn marks around the battery’s electrical contacts. Its components when exposed to air, react chemically to generate heat and catch fire. It is difficult to put out a fire coming from an already inflammable battery and so keeping it in a sealed container is highly recommended.
A lithium-ion battery is considered hazardous while shipping and is handled with care. Therefore, shipping companies refuse to carry damaged batteries as they pose a heavy threat to individuals who carry them.
3. No Nearby Recycling Center
Urban and suburban retailers usually have recycling facilities or waste management services to recycle electronics and batteries. However, the centers in rural areas are very far. Almost all laptop manufacturers recycle your laptops and ship them back to the company free of cost.
Some companies also offer a free exchange of old laptops from other companies when you purchase their laptop.
The company websites run the following programs.
- Apple Trade-in Program
- HP Product Return And Recycling
- Dell Mail-back Recycling Program
- Asus Product Stewardship Program
- Lenovo Consumer Recycling Program
However, the manufacturers offer exchange programs for the laptop and not just the battery. They might reject your laptop if it has a non-functional battery and offers to repair it for an additional fee. Also shipping a damaged battery can put the lives of the people traveling with it in grave danger.
