Battery Recycling

Recycle your old batteries at Battery Bill in Sacramento and Stockton.

We buy all types of car batteries, truck batteries, R.V. batteries, golf cart batteries, deep cycle batteries, commercial batteries and some flashlight batteries.

Battery Bill is dedicated to the protection of our environment and we would urge you to bring your used and dead batteries to us or recycle your old batteries.

We in the battery industry are proud of the fact that lead-acid batteries are the environmental success story of our time. More than 97% of all battery lead is recycled. Compared to 55% of aluminum soft drink and beer cans, 45% of newspapers, 26% of glass bottles and 26% of tires, lead acid batteries top the list of the most highly recycled consumer products.

The lead-acid battery gains its environmental edge from its closed loop cycle. The typical new lead-acid battery contains 60 to 80 percent recycled lead and plastic. When a spent battery is collected, it is sent to a permitted recycler, where under strict environmental regulations, the lead and plastic are reclaimed and sent to a new battery manufacturer. The recycling cycle goes on indefinitely. That means the lead and plastic in the lead-acid batteries that you use have been – and will continue to be – recycled many, many times. This makes lead acid battery disposal extremely successful from both environmental and cost perspectives.
To find out more about recycling, the applicable Federal and State laws and to locate battery recycling locations in your area we would direct you to the following:

• http://www.earth911.org – This is a very comprehensive site, and by entering your zip code the site will direct you to battery recycling depots in your area. Think and act green!
• http://www.batterycouncil.org – This site will provide you with more information on the recycling process and direct you to the pertinent Federal and State laws.

• 1-800-8-BATTERY – You will be prompted to enter your zip code, after which you will be provided with a list of battery recycling depots in your area.

We are a California certified battery recycler.

The battery is broken apart in a hammermill, a machine that hammers the battery into pieces.

The broken battery pieces go into a vat, where the lead and heavy materials fall to the bottom while the plastic rises to the top. At this point, the polypropylene pieces are scooped away and the liquids are drawn off, leaving the lead and heavy metals. Each of the materials goes into a different “stream.” We’ll begin with the plastic, or polypropylene.

Plastic
The polypropylene pieces are washed, blown dry and sent to a plastic recycler where the pieces are melted together into an almost-liquid state. The molten plastic is put through an extruder that produces small plastic pellets of a uniform size. Those pellets are sold to the manufacturer of battery cases, and the process begins again.

Lead
The lead grids, lead oxide and other lead parts are cleaned and then melted together in smelting furnaces.

The molten lead is poured into ingot molds. Large ingots, weighing about 2,000 pounds are called hogs. Smaller ingots, weighing 65 pounds, are called pigs. After few minutes, the impurities, otherwise known as dross, float to the top of the still-molten lead in the ingot molds. The dross is scraped away and the ingots are left to cool.

When the ingots are cool, they are removed from the molds and sent to battery manufacturers, where they are re-melted and used in the production of new lead plates and other parts for new batteries.

Sulfuric Acid
Old battery acid can be handled in two ways.

The acid is neutralized with an industrial compound similar to household baking soda. This turns the acid into water. The water is treated, cleaned and tested to be sure it meets clean water standards. Then it is released into the public sewer system.

Another way to treat acid is to process it and convert it to sodium sulfate, an odorless white powder that’s used in laundry detergent, glass and textile manufacturing. This takes a material that would be discarded and turns it into a useful product.  Acid can also be reclaimed and reused in new battery products through innovative recycling processes.

If you have more questions on battery recycling, please give us a call.