Are waste batteries hazardous wastes?

There are many types of waste batteries, but only a few of them belong to hazardous waste, and most of theem don't need to be managed as a hazardous waste. Batteries are mainly divided into two categories, primary and secondary batteries.

Primary batteries mainly include ordinary zinc-manganese batteries, alkaline zinc-manganese batteries, in addition to mercury oxide batteries and so on. Among them, the waste mercury oxide battery belongs to hazardous waste. Other batteries used in daily life are not managed as hazardous waste.

Secondary batteries are divided into rechargeable dry batteries and wet batteries. Rechargeable dry battery mainly includes nickel-cadmium battery, nickel-metal hydride battery, lithium battery, etc., wet battery is mainly lead-acid battery. Nickel-cadmium batteries and lead-acid batteries (such as those used in motor vehicles) contain a large amount of lead, cadmium and other heavy metals, which are hazardous waste. Others are not managed as hazardous waste.

Therefore, there are three batteries should be used as hazardous waste management, namely mercury oxide battery, nickel-cadmium battery and lead-acid battery. Mercury oxide battery has been expressly prohibited from production, and it is a product of elimination. Nickel-cadmium batteries have been gradually replaced by nickel-metal hydride batteries and lithium ion batteries are rarely seen in the civilian market because of its performance. Therefore, the hazardous waste that needs special attention in the waste battery is the waste lead-acid battery. And this kind of battery is widely used in real life.

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