Does Your Contracting Business Follow California’s Battery Disposal Guidelines?

A large pile of garbage on a hill, requiring the expertise of a licensed contractor for proper disposal.

Construction is one of the biggest producers of waste, and managing it correctly is key to keeping your region safe and functional. Battery disposal is an important part of this. Depending on your particular field, you might use and dispose of batteries frequently. This guide identifies California’s battery disposal guidelines, and how you can ensure that you are following the rules.

What Is Universal Waste?
Universal waste may seem like it applies to all kinds of garbage, but it doesn’t. It’s a classification that California uses to designate waste that can pose a risk if they are just tossed into a landfill. These include:

Under the Universal Waste Rule, people must take these items to a designated universal waste handling facility or recycling center.

What Is California’s Guidelines for Battery Disposal?
Although there are dozens of battery types and they all present a different kind of hazard from a disposal standpoint, the rule is simple. When you have a battery that you no longer intend to use, you need to recycle it. The rule applies to people with batteries at home as well as businesses. Companies that operate landfills, waste transfer stations or recycling centers are also required to look for batteries. This helps to catch the batteries that people put in the garbage by mistake.

Are There Unique Guidelines Based on Battery Type?
Prior to 2006, businesses and individuals had to follow different rules based on the type of battery they had. At the time, residences as well as a few “small quantity generators” could throw away most kinds of batteries in the trash. This allowance sometimes applied to organizations that produced a certain amount of universal waste but didn’t collect it from others. Under the old laws, people could throw out their old D batteries but had to take a car battery to a recycling center. After 2006, all batteries fall under the universal waste law and have to be handled properly.

What Happens If Businesses Don’t Dispose of Batteries Properly?
The premise of the universal waste guidelines is that if you give people no reason to recycle batteries, they won’t. In 2002, California’s Integrated Waste Management Board looked at battery use and disposal in the state. They determined that over 500 million batteries were sold in California each year, but less than 1 percent of them were recycled. The rest ended up in the trash.

Besides generating a massive amount of waste, 480 million batteries in the landfill poses a problem. Cadmium, mercury, lead and other hazardous wastes could put nearby homes and businesses at risk. Keeping old lithium-ion batteries could be a fire hazard. As a construction professional, you may already know that this industry produces more waste than any other. Making an effort to dispose of hazardous waste properly helps everyone, your business included.

Where Can Businesses Recycle Batteries?
Finding a place to recycle batteries can be quite simple. Any organization that sells batteries must also accept them for recycling. Experts usually don’t recommend saving batteries at home or business in advance of recycling. This is because they can leak or corrode over time, particularly if they aren’t stored properly. Instead, just identify a local place to recycle them and make a plan to drop them off on a regular basis. You won’t have to worry about starting a fire or leaking toxic chemicals into the water, and you’ll keep your business cleaner.

Battery disposal is a California law that applies to everyone, especially businesses. Knowing where to take your old batteries can help you keep a handle on your company’s construction waste. To learn more about regulations surrounding California contracting businesses, contact CSLS today!