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| Ban of non-rechargeable batteries |
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| brabus:
Every year we throw billions of empty batteries in landfills. Many ideas have been discussed over the years, many projects have been drafted (e.g.: AA cells with Micro-USB charging feature), yet still every remote of the planet keeps eating standard AA/AAA cells. In your opinion, why is this obsolete piece of technology so difficult to eradicate? Is the problem on the technical side or more on the political side? Thank you in advance for all your thoughts. |
| edy:
Technical side. Alkaline cells have a long shelf life, great for emergency use. Any kind of rechargeable will "decay" slowly after every charge, there is no guarantee they will be ready for you when you need them. They also have lower output V, and my understanding is that they also hold less power capacity. For example, Alkaline AA will be around 2500 mAh compared to NiMH at 1200-1900 mAh. I'm not talking about lithium because they also have their own problems and special circuitry required to charge cells, monitor temperature, etc..., adds cost and complications. There is a purpose and usefulness for each type of battery. They all need to coexist. I agree that we should try for rechargeable when practical. For example, many toys and radios now use them. Computers and cellphones and now cars on various forms of lithium batteries. Great. But certainly "one-use" should never be banned. Recycled yes, but we need these batteries. If the problem of "throwing away in landfills" is bothersome, perhaps battery companies can incentivize recycling by putting a "deposit" on each battery or providing a credit towards a new pack of batteries, like they do with empty bottles and cans. Right now battery drop-offs (and other eWaste) are found in lots of big stores like Staples, BestBuy and so on.... but there are no incentives to do so. I would love to raid the dumpsters of these eWaste bins... Likely more than half the stuff can be easily repaired or pieces cobbled together from different machines to make a better one. But rather than allowing hobbyists to "refurbish" these and get "down-cycled" (reused by people who don't need the latest and greatest hardware, put Linux on the machines and keep them as plug-in-only laptops, etc), they get sent to China or Pakistan to get picked apart by people without any safety protection and get exposed to all sorts of hazardous materials. I know down-cycled stuff will still end up being thrown away eventually, but it will at least delay things and prevent people from buying even more stuff. Obviously manufacturers don't like that, they would rather see you dump things every few years. |
| BravoV:
--- Quote from: edy on June 30, 2020, 01:52:14 pm ---Technical side. Alkaline cells have a long shelf life ... --- End quote --- Technical eh .. how about reality ... and I have many more other examples posted in this forum alone. |
| tom66:
Alkaline batteries still make sense in many applications. NiMH cells, even low-self-discharge types, still discharge quicker than an alkaline in storage or under low load. For example, in a regular wall clock, the batteries will last 5-10 years. Why do we need to use NiMH cells in those? The alkaline cells will cost less and consume less resources to produce, even if the rechargeable can be used a few times. The same deal applies for remote controls. I would say lithium AA cells would be a good place to focus energy on eliminating. Besides some speciality applications like smoke detectors that need 10 year lifespans, these batteries are not really worthwhile compared to NiMH. Most camera kit now uses integral Li-Ion cells, but if it does use AA cells, then NiMH can usually be substituted - most cameras are designed to function from these cells, although some may need to be configured to correctly display battery level and shut off when the cells are exhausted. |
| TimFox:
If it were necessary to eliminate primary cells from the waste stream, we could mandate a recycling deposit. Right now, it is difficult to find a recycling location for batteries near me. |
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