• Regulations are in place for recycling batteries.battery image by Aditia Patria Warman from Fotolia.com
  
  Batteries come in different shapes and sizes. Batteries are made with heavy metals which can be hazardous to the environment when disposed of in an improper manner. Such metals include cadmium, mercury, lead and nickel. Some of these metals are released into the air when these batteries are burned or the metal might become concentrated in the ash. This is why regulations establish guidelines for the proper disposal or recycling of batteries.
  
  

Labeling

• The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) establishes a system for the regulation of hazardous waste from the time it is generated up to the time it is disposed of. The RCRA gives U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority it needs to regulate how hazardous waste is produced and recycled or disposed of. The law establishes that batteries must have the three-arrow symbol or another recycling symbol. The batteries have to be properly labeled according to type. Lead-acid batteries must have the words "Lead," "Return" and "Recycle." If the battery is sealed, it must have the phrase "Battery must be recycled." Nickel-cadmium batteries must have "Ni-cd" and the phrase "Battery must be recycled or disposed of properly."
  
  

State Hazardous Waste Requirements

• Each state is authorized by EPA to administer its own hazardous waste program. Only three states, Alaska, Hawaii and Iowa, are exempt. This means that different states might have their own version of hazardous waste regulations. For instance, California has labeled zinc, which is used in the production of alkaline batteries, as a toxic waste. Some states employ bioassay characterization to determine what constitutes a biohazard waste. Bioassay characterization is used to determine the toxicity of a material by observing how it affects plants, animals or microorganisms. This rules out alkaline and carbon-zinc batteries which are state-regulated hazardous waste.
  
  

Federal Hazardous Waste Requirements

• Except for lead-acid batteries, federal regulations do not specifically manage battery disposal. The RCRA does not include alkaline batteries in its list of hazardous waste, however, some states do. The lead content in lead-acid batteries make them an RCRA-regulated waste.