EU Proposing Mandatory Battery Recycling 278
Ironsides writes "The BBC Reports that the European Union is working on a directive to mandate battery recycling. Among other things, it will ban more than trace amounts of cadmium and mercury and require all batteries to be removeable. If it passes, it will be interesting to see how this affects such devices as MP3 players that generally do not have removeable rechargeable batteries."
OMG! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:OMG! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:OMG! (Score:2)
Also, the click wheel will be replaced with a "click ball" about the size of the ball bearings used in roller skate wheels.
Re:OMG! (Score:2)
iPod batteries are pretty easily removable. Just because there isn't an obvious latch or screw holes doesn't mean it is hard to get inside the unit. I'd think that a crowd that has so many people that are proud of themselves for being able to "build" computers would be able to figure out how to get inside them.
Re:OMG! (Score:2)
Never-the-less, depending on how the EU law is worded, it may require the battery removal to be obvious to a more casual user. After all, even a soldered-down battery can probably be removed by you or I with a flat-head screwdriver or maybe just a good hard yank.
Re:OMG! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:OMG! (Score:2)
True, but it's not just a question of removing the old battery, but also to properly insert the replacement battery. And for that, you would indeed need the proper tools, i.e. a soldering iron.
Re:OMG! (Score:2)
This legislation won't have any effect on the iPods; it may make Apple make the ho
Re:OMG! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:OMG! (Score:2, Funny)
What are you babbling about. Slasdhot is the biggest collection of irrational Apple fan boys in the known Universe. Just look at your absurd pro-Apple post and how it was rated "insightful", despite it being utterly moronic.
iPod battery life problem (Score:2)
Re:iPod battery life problem (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:OMG! (Score:4, Insightful)
It's a dangerous path you tread.
I would imagine there are people who say My computers sole purpose is so I can surf the web and read email. Windows does that. Why should I need to know any more than that?
It's just not in the geek vocabulary to say why should I need to know any more than that
Re:OMG! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:OMG! (Score:2)
For the same reason you should know that your car runs with fuel, which come from oil, which come from various countries outsides the U.S. As a consumer you don't have to know, but as a human being, it sounds a good thing to understand.
Re:Cars used to be more complicated... (Score:2)
Very brave (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Very brave (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Very brave (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Very brave (Score:2)
Re:Very brave (Score:2)
It's not like we just discovered that Cadmium and Mercury are bad for us and the environment. This isn't new science - this isn't a government decision based on recent discoveries. The only thing new here is that the battery market uses less cadmium and mercury now, so the politicians can safely pass some pointless legislation that makes them sound like they care. If they were really noble creatures, then they would have been passing this legislation back when NiCad and Alkaline cells
Re:Very brave (Score:2)
Re:Very brave (Score:2)
Re:Very brave (Score:3, Insightful)
Besides which, even if this is something of a non-issue, introducing the legislation will at least prevent it from becoming an issue again in the future. Not to mention that if the opposite were true, that most batteries would be aff
What about lemons? (Score:5, Funny)
Potatoes even? (Score:2)
Potato Batteries (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Potato Batteries (Score:2)
Hmm, but the link in GP states: Don't eat potatoes after using them for a battery.
And that being said, with fruit and vegetable batteries, the energy does not actually come from the fruit/vegetable, but from the electrodes (they corrode => that's what's generating the electricity...). So it's not a renewable source (the fruit/vegetable is just a passive medium).
Removable? (Score:5, Funny)
Not a bad idea (Score:4, Insightful)
If nothing else, one the law is in place, it is easy to amend it for future purposes than to draft a new one. The law also probably has something to do with putting in a europe-wide standard for such things as opposed to a hodge-podge of laws.
Re:Not a bad idea (Score:3, Informative)
The batteries I would wonder about are the imports that sell for a fifth of the price of a set of duracels.
The same stuff that's in the duracells... just a lot less of it. Weigh a cheap battery some
Re:Not a bad idea (Score:2)
http://www.isco.com/WebProductFiles/Application s
I still use high-end car batteries in my solar-charged energy system. Nickel-Cadmium power drops over time - lead-acid batteries are AFAIK second place to Li-ion batteries, which provide a constant power output until there is no m
Re:Not a bad idea (Score:2)
That's not a bug, it's a feature !
There are several places where it's usefull to be able to determine how much life the battery has left by simply analyzing the output. It's not fun if the flashlight goes out in t
Re:Not a bad idea (Score:2)
Re:Not a bad idea (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Not a bad idea (Score:2)
WTF? First off, when did Lead-Acid batteries enter the discussion? You aren't going to have a portable drill with a Lead-Acid battery attached to it.
Second, that PDF doesn't show what sustained loads the batteries can take, only current discharge over time/tempurature, and voltage drop.
Third, the PDF says the EXACT OPPOSITE of everything you are saying in your post! You say NiCD bat
Re:Not a bad idea (Score:2)
That's completely wrong. Overcharging lead-acid batteries will seriously damage them.
I generally like lead acid too, but they do have several disadvantages, and it doesn't look like it will take long before something else will surpass lead acid in price, while not having as many disadvantages (tempurature, natural discharge rate, unstable voltage, etc).
Re:Not a bad idea (Score:2)
Re:Not a bad idea (Score:2)
And lethal [wikipedia.org] in near-microgram doses when ingested, isn't it?
Re:Not a bad idea (Score:3, Interesting)
Convenience (Score:5, Insightful)
However, if you have to call around to chase a moving target to turn risky garbage in, most will just dump it in the regular garbage.
The trash pickup company could have a policy whereby tech waste is put in say blue bags by the side of the curb with the rest of the trash one day of the month. A small tax on semi-hazardous tech devices could pay for it. Or perhaps regular bags with a pre-determined message/sign taped to it.
Re:Convenience (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Reduce, Re use, Recycle discrimination (Score:2)
We have a flat-rate of $10 per coomputer and $15 per CRT.
Not a big deal on a $1500 computer system, but as someone who used to collect and re-deploy "obsolete" gear, $10/$15 per becomes very expensive when you try get rid of a garage full of scrounged gear. Now I won't scavenge stuff unless I know I can sell it.
Xix.
Re:Reduce, Re use, Recycle discrimination (Score:2)
If you want to encourage recycling, charge a larger amount that is mostly refunded once the machine is dropped off at arecycling center. Many states already do something similar for food recyclables, just extend the program for electronic equipment.
Re:Reduce, Re use, Recycle discrimination (Score:3, Insightful)
(Note that partially this exists because "broken" car parts can be easily refurbished and resold, so they really are buying a moderately-defective part back from you. I'm not sure how true that is with computers.)
Re:Convenience (Score:2)
Re:Convenience (Score:2)
Re:Convenience (Score:2)
Where do you live? Here in Luxembourg, there are mini-recycling centers with 3 bins (paper/cardboard, glass, batteries) in most villages or town squares, and usually they stay put for years.
Re:Convenience - INCENTIVE NEEDED (Score:2)
Re:Convenience - INCENTIVE NEEDED (Score:2)
Instead of rewarding recycling, start punishing pollution.
Some people claim they "can't be bothered" to recycle -- bullshit. I say, then make the fuckers bothered! Most supermarkets have recycling centres in their car parks. Well, if you fetched the fucking full containers home from the supermarket, why the fuck can't you take them back there when they're fucking empty? Dickheads.
It's not fucking rocket science. Different kinds of waste don't magically mix themselves up. It takes human effort
Re:Convenience - INCENTIVE NEEDED (Score:2)
reward works great
Will also be an issue for the Energizer Bunny (Score:2)
Duracell Bunny (Score:4, Interesting)
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr
( no, not the same company at all - quite heavy competitors in the U.S. actually, though Duracell doesn't use their bunny in the U.S. I think )
Re:Duracell Bunny (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duracell_Bunny [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energizer_Bunny [wikipedia.org]
Re:Duracell Bunny (Score:2)
Won't change much in appearance (Score:5, Interesting)
This could potentially affect things like real-time clock chips, though. You'd either have to make the whole chip removable, or use an external battery. "Suicide batteries" in arcade game cartridges could also come under this.
As for banning cadmium - how will cordless power tools go? NiCd still performs better than NiMH or LiIon for high-current applications.
Re:Won't change much in appearance (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Won't change much in appearance (Score:2)
Or hybrid cars, for that matter...
All that's going to happen is the manufacturers will provide a facility for you to return the device so they can remove the battery. I don't think the bill says batteries have to be user-removable, just removable.
Many cordless appliances are already made in a way where, if you do something specific but non-obvious, the device breaks open and releases the battery. Both my electric razor and toothbrush have such facili
Re:Won't change much in appearance (Score:2)
Re:Won't change much in appearance (Score:2)
Where do you live? I can tell you that in RC world every high current application is dominated by NiMH for the past four or so years. Yes, that's where you pull >200A from the cells for a few seconds at a time. No NiCd ever came close to what can we do with NiMH today.
Non-removable batteries (Score:4, Insightful)
Future models will likely have a cell-phone like removable battery with a slide/screw off case. Several people will comply to save the babies.
My question: What are they going to do about computer CMOS batteries, and other really embedded batteries. Why stop there, we need to put an end to the electrolyte seepage from large capacitors.
Who uses NiCad anymore anyway? NiMH is all I've seen for some time. Though I'm not a battery expert, I assume NiCad is still used in cheaper devices. The "memory" on those batteries was always horrible, charge it once before it was almost completely dead and that's the new lifetime unless you work to rebuild its capacity.
Chalk this one up to expensive and ineffective legislation to make a news story and do little else.
Re:Non-removable batteries (Score:2)
Re:Non-removable batteries (Score:5, Informative)
NiCd batteries are still used in power tools and other industrial applications because of their ability to deliver large amounts of current quickly.
Re:Non-removable batteries (Score:2)
I don't know. It is Europe after all.
Re:Non-removable batteries (Score:3, Informative)
For example, in Germany the cost of the individual throwing away the MP3 player would be calculated in advance of the product being placed on the shelf, and the company producing the MP3 player would be required to pay for the disposal costs [colby.edu] o
Re:Non-removable batteries (Score:3, Interesting)
I know that if my iRiver H320 died and I couldn't find a way to change the battery (unlikely given the number of dedicated battery stores on the web, but you never can tell), I'd consider several options
Re:Non-removable batteries (Score:2)
Yes, older countries like China, Russia, etc. know better... Whoops, not what you had in-mind, huh?
I guess the more elitist Europeans like yourself don't need any facts to support your claims, either.
Hint: The USA is a big place... bigger than all of Western Europe. In the USA there are different states, where the laws may vary, just like countries in Europe. Some of these
Re:Non-removable batteries (Score:2)
shouldn't be a problem. (Score:3, Insightful)
As the disposal has to be free of cost for private households (also free of cost for businesses if the devices were made after august 2005 AFAIR)
Re:Non-removable batteries (Score:2)
1. Best Buy (Cellular batteries)
2. Most auto stores (Lead batteries)
3. Tractor Supply (Lead & NiCd Batters)
4. Staples
5. Radio Shack
Check Good info here for may recycling programs
Re:Non-removable batteries (Score:2)
HERE for more info [earth911.org]
Interesting? I think not (Score:3, Insightful)
If you define interesting as "it will increase the overall price with respect to current units, and the increased amount of government regulation and oversight which will require additional tax funds," then yes, I agree with you, it's quite interesting.
Look, I'm as keen to recycle as the next guy, but since when did government become the solution to all problems? Here's a radical, way-far-out-there idea: if you want the battery industry to change, refuse to purchase devices that are non-recyclable! Nothing stirs an industry quite so quickly -- or so efficiently -- as a consumer revolt. We get greener products, the industry adapts to deliver what we want, and there's no intrusive government leaning over somebody's shoulder telling them what to do. What an elegant solution! It's a pity the knee-jerk reaction these days -- regardless of what continent or island group you're on -- is to scream "Here's a problem! We must demand that government do more to fix it!"
Re:Interesting? I think not (Score:5, Insightful)
That only changes the problem, without solving it.
Just because "X" buys only recycled paper doesn't me he is going to put the discarded stuff back in the recycling bin.
The public wants recycled goods, but it also doesn't want to be bothered with actually recycling them...
Re:Interesting? I think not (Score:2)
The same day they formed an army.
Re:Interesting? I think not (Score:2)
Unless you have some regulation to keep this stuff off the market in the first place.
Sounds good to me (Score:2, Interesting)
Well, that part sounds good to me. I think it should be a law regardless of the environmental effect...
Hammer... (Score:2, Informative)
Unintended consequences (Score:3, Insightful)
After this, people will chuck their cell phones into the nearest river, even more directly polluting the environment they tried to protect.
Re:Unintended consequences (Score:5, Insightful)
Now WHY would someone do that? Out of spite for the new law? No, I think not.
This requires shops to collect used batteries at NO COST, so I can't see any reason someone would do something as insane as going out of their way to toss it into a river.
Re:Unintended consequences (Score:2)
Have you never seen piles of litter RIGHT NEXT TO a public trash can? (And one that has plenty of room in it, of course...)
You don't know teenagers, nor general sociopaths -- they are everywhere. Spite is the LEAST malicious motive they have.
Re:Unintended consequences (Score:5, Funny)
Remember :
government = bad
market = good
From a market point of view, tossing cell phones in a river is sound economics. It creates demand for more cell phones and no charges for recycling the nasty bits. For consumers without a river nearby, just toss it out the window.
Of course some poor sod (or critter) might get intoxicated by the crap in the cellphone as it dissolves away, but that's life for you. If he had been brighter, ha would have sold phones, made a fortune and bought a clean island somewhere instead of living in a pulluted wasteland. I guess some people just don't get it.
Problems as always (Score:2)
But hey, at least you can change the battery is your disposable camera. Now if you could just get a law mandating that you be able to change the film too you'd have... a camera.
All Batteries? (Score:2)
Hopefully their law just requires all batteries containing the problematic chemicals be recycled so in the future if someone creates a clean/biode
This is a good thing... (Score:3, Insightful)
standardized LiIon battery? (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, not round cells but square ones. Why do batteries have to be round?
Wound construction (Score:2)
You can make thin flat batteries (e.g. the ones in Polaroid film, if you can remember the last century), but they are fragile and only really suitable for use built into something.
Removable != replacable (Score:4, Insightful)
California already has such a law! (Score:4, Informative)
I've been recycling batteries ever since I can remember. Radio Shack stores used to take non-rechargables and then they quit. I switched to Walgreens, which still accepts them.
Already been done for years in Germany (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Already been done for years in Germany (Score:2)
Re:Already been done for years in Germany (Score:2, Informative)
How about standardizing batteries and chargers (Score:4, Insightful)
It cannot be beyond the realms of science to design 5 or so "pocket" style batteries for small devices and perhaps 5 or so "laptop" style batteries for larger devices, ranging in power and dimensions and require all consumer devices to use them. The likes of Intel, Nokia, HP could even have a hand in their specification to ensure they were up to the job just as long as they were standardized.
I can't see any reason whatsoever for the multitude of chargers. It's virtually dictated by the brand rather than the device in that brand. Standardization also means there is no need for the multitude of chargers and docks that every device needs. If the batteries were the same then the chargers could or should be too, meaning less packaging and waste since you could buy the charger separately and use it with many devices.
Who tags the taggers? (Score:4, Insightful)
Whoever put those tags deserves to live close to a landfill where these batteries would be freeely disposed.
enlighted EU makes me want to live there (Score:4, Insightful)
Compared to living in Australia, it's tempting because the EU has (my personal top 10 reasons):
Most and Least Livable Countries: UN Human Development Index, 2005
see http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778562.html [infoplease.com]
http://www.cancer.org.au/content.cfm?randid=96074
Re:enlighted EU makes me want to live there (Score:2)
I must say, I find it absolutely HILARIOUS that you're using that list to explain your desire to leave Australia for Europe, when Australia is the #3 most livable country according to that list.
Wear sunblock. Plant a few trees. etc.
I'll take the desert, over the freezing North Atlantic, any day.
Re:enlighted EU makes me want to live there (Score:2)
He gave other reasons too...
Love the lies politicians use. (Score:2)
Bullshit.
The cost is always borne by the consumer. While the idea is worth celebrating, recycling batteries, the lie to sell it to the public is not. These costs will simply be embedded into the cost of the batteries and equipment. While the consumer may not see a "battery deposit" or "battery disposal" fee in writing it will be there.
I am all for helping the environment and getting industries long ignored into the fold, but damn, do we
I deliberately bought an MP3 player (Score:2)
A couple of AAA batteries in a pocket somewhere are *no* issue at all.
here it is [samsung.com.au]
Re:Battery Bonfire (Score:2, Insightful)