Lithium-ion batteries a growing fire hazard in NYC garbage trucks

So yeah, naturally people don’t do that.

The rules are basically like this because the regulators figured you're too dumb to know which types of batteries are bad for the environment (lead-acid, the now-obsolete Ni-Cd, less significantly NiMH). And sure, better-tailored rules would confuse some folks, but I bet that compliance would be higher for the really bad stuff.

I've found that occasionally true... but as you say for things like laptops without removable batteries it feels a little weird to just leave them in the piles by the door that many of these stores have.

It turns out that Staples, Lowe's, and Home Depot will generally take your batteries for you, but I've never seen this advertised anywhere.

Recology was the organization handling the recycling IIRC...

Edit: Yep!

https://www.recology.com/recology-san-mateo-county/hazardous...

Here in Norway it is in principle rather easy. The law requires shops that sell electronics, batteries, light bulbs and such to accept and handle such goods for recycling.

So, if you can buy it there, you can deliver it for recycling there.

There's also plenty of information about this in various ads, physical and social media, so hard to not know.

Yet people throw batteries and whatnot right in the trash, or worse. Some people just don't care about others, is my conclusion.

I thought alkaline batteries were fine? There are no heavy metals

I bought a power bank from Best Buy that was recalled, and when I tried to return it for disposal, I was told to look for local recycling companies.

You should get money back when recycling electronics so there is an economic incentive todo recycling.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_Electrical_and_Electroni...

In Denmark there are electronic waste bins in apartment buildings (with the usual recycling bins), and placed somewhere around the neighbourhood for houses. There's also a steel cupboard for hazardous waste.

I notice there's a limit of 500g for batteries, so large ones should be taken to the neighbourhood recycling centre or a place that sells them.

Now, FDNY and sanitation need to do something ACTUALLY ADEQUATE to solve the problem.

IOW, they must make it CONVENIENT to properly dispose of batteries

>>introduced a bill to require the sanitation department to develop a plan for educating New Yorkers about the proper disposal of these batteries, including holding regular disposal events.

>>The city has a dedicated hazardous waste disposal site in each borough — but the hours of operation for these sites are limited.

These measures are a dumb waste of time. Everyone already has a list a mile-and-a-half long of things they should do, and properly disposing of batteries is already on it. Many of the things on everyone's list never get done.

If they want it done, they need to make it easy to do. Heck, just hang some small-ish double-walled steel bins on the trash trucks, and ask people to put their batteries next to their trans bins instead of inside them. At least that'll be a start until a more permanent solution is designed.

They are a major inconvenience for everyone. Only the most conscientious people who have the extra time will do it.

It allows for consumers to consider the “full cost” of being inconsiderate and not recycling properly while not “actually” increasing the cost of the product if they properly dispose of it. It also created a secondary market for scrapers/recyclers to collect and deposit items so there’s another chance it won’t enter the waste steam.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deposit-refund_system

We need everything to be disposed of properly, whoever that responsibility ultimately falls to, so it's unfortunate that we charge consumers at the end of the line for disposal. It's leaky and creates a perverse incentive for pollution, dumping, trash burning, etc.

And products that are harder to recycle or dispose of would cost more than cleaner alternatives, creating gentle economic pressure to produce and buy more sustainable goods.

Right now, we might not even have a plan for proper disposal before something is sold. This seems to have happened with electronics.

Or badly publicized. The Goodwill around the corner is a designated battery drop-off site. You would never know it without specifically looking that up.

All you need to solve this issue is:

1. All batteries must be easily removable with no screws (except for toys).

2. All supermarkets must accept waste batteries of any form.

Another likely reason, and likely the biggest one as well, is: how many folks, outside of the HN/techie crowd, are even aware of what "kind" of battery is in their various devices and is even aware that there are special rules for many battery types?

Yes, the user guides (if one is even provided) do often have a page about "do not throw in the trash" -- but how many actually read the guides, much less the "warnings" page? And, more importantly, how many even know where the guide is at the end-of-life for the device when they are throwing it away in order to look up what special handling is needed?

Yes, there's the trashcan with the slash icon on the back of the device. How many of the non-HN/techie crowd even know what that icon means to register enough that there is something 'different' about this item vs. everything else they throw away? And, how many even think to look on the back vs. just tossing the device in a trash bin?

I'm not sure even ready access to disposal works.

CVS apparently does too but none of the employees ever seem to know anything about it.

How is it easy? The fire can start long after the batteries are introduced into the trucks. Here in Norway they're a major cause of fires at the facilities handling the garbage[1].

[1]: https://www.nrk.no/tromsogfinnmark/228-branner-i-norske-avfa...