Alkaline/Primary Battery Question

Hello,

I am new to the scrap forum and fairly new to scrapping.

I am a college student in the Midwest that started hauling scrap about a year ago. I am doing a lot agriculture lots or farms.

Recently I got a connection to 10+ tons of mixed AA, AAA, C, D, etc batteries that are a mix of alkaline & lithium & other primary batteries a month.

I have looked on the forum and haven't really found anything recent posted.

I can get the first ton or so for free and then I can pick up the rest for cheap because the place I want to get them from is currently land filling them at a fairly high cost.

What I would like to do is purchase the batteries, sort them by chemistry (Li Ion, Alkaline, etc.), and then ship the batteries to a recycler. The place I will be getting them from cannot afford to sort them by chemistry because of their cost of union labor (Every employee is at least $30/hour).

I have found batteryrecycling which is a website (add . com, i am not allowed to post links yet). Has anyone worked with them?

But it doesn't seem like they are necessarily the right market because they sort them for me (profits would be higher if I sorted).

My question is would anyone like to share who they sell too? I have found multiple places that buy batteries but they are all scrap yards that sell them to someone else and they are not in my area. If anyone could give me some insight that would be awesome.

Lastly does anyone know the process of recycling alkaline batteries? Just wondering out of curiosity. I was thinking something like they shred the batteries, run that under a magnet, run the zinc and manganese under an eddy current to separate it from the garbage, and then get rid of the garbage. Is this about what happens?

Thanks a ton!

My opinion - waste of time. No way to make a profit from these. I've been trying over the past five years.

Even with this amount?

I know lithium batteries are worth a bit (correct me if I am wrong), would it make financial sense to separate those and sell them. Then do something with the alkaline batteries?

Only places I've seen that do anything with the alkaline do it for free. The other types, you could check the buyers on here, or your own an decide if the pricing is worth your time, that is if anyone is buying those types.

Only batteries I mess with are, cell phone, laptop and Automotive. The rest I just toss in a bucket till I figure out what to do with them.

As always YMMV, and good luck!

Sirscrapalot - Keeper of the traveling cooler.

Looking at the link - batteryrecycling "accepts" batteries, but I did not see that they "pay" for batteries. Throw the alkaline batteries in with your shred a little at a time. The refining process will deal with them just fine.

Our city is accepting them at the curb in a seperate bag as of next week.

Edit: so somebody up here is making something off them

Almost 7 years in the scrapping business and have not yet found a buyer for alkaline batteries. I have a buyer for cell phone and laptop batteries and some Nimh and NiCad but that's it. If you find a buyer please let use all know. Good luck.

Quick question, if I would say pack up the truck and head to Mexico ($5 a day labor) could I pay people to sort the alkaline batteries from the other batteries, sell the other ones, and then with the alkaline (90%+ of the batteries) pay the cheap labor to break apart the batteries with hammers and then separate the steel from the zinc/manganese with magnets? From what I can understand is they shred the batteries and then separate the materials with a magnet, so same process just a heck of a lot cheaper to start.

Thoughts?

We don't condone sending stuff to China to be processed unsafely and this pretty much falls under that category.

It is not hazardous waste, with proper ventilation the facility would be safe, if we do it in the US I am sure it is environmentally safe (at least to EPA standards). The reason we would be in Mexico is because of labor costs, not because of environmental laws in Mexico.

one place in town here was paying 10 cents a pound for them so im sure they are not the only ones. google it and see what comes up?

You should create this niche market and we can all sell our batteries to you!

I figured out a way to economically separate the materials in the batteries in the US. How many batteries (alkaline only) do you guys have?

Also, does anyone know if people buy zinc/manganese mix?

Thanks!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Electrowaste

You should create this niche market and we can all sell our batteries to you!

---

Yes, what Electrowaste said.

Probably enough around here to see if this will work for you...

Im intrested in the cellphone battery buyer can you tell me his name or site?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by deception

Im intrested in the cellphone battery buyer can you tell me his name or site?

---

Look thru our buyers lists and pick one you feel comfortable with.

Scrap Buyers & Sellers - Scrap Metal Forum

This might be a stupid idea, but what about trying to contact the battery manufactures and see if they want them. If it's there own batteries then maybe they can reuse the electrolyte and zinc.

Theres a buyer on the forums that buys these at $0.30/lb but I'm not sure if its on his thread or not, I asked him for a full price list and they were on it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Longhairboy

Theres a buyer on the forums that buys these at $0.30/lb but I'm not sure if its on his thread or not, I asked him for a full price list and they were on it.

---

I got a full price list from him also. Canadian buyer if that helps you. I think they are looking for larger loads and were paying 30 cents a pound over a month ago. One of our original (recently back) E-waste buyers in Texas also indicated that he can do batteries (multi pallet loads)

There is also a buyer in North Syracuse New York paying 10 cents a pound.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mthomasdev

I got a full price list from him also. Canadian buyer if that helps you. I think they are looking for larger loads and were paying 30 cents a pound over a month ago. One of our original (recently back) E-waste buyers in Texas also indicated that her can do batteries (multi pallet loads)

There is also a buyer in North Syracuse New York paying 10 cents a pound.

---

Are you talking about alkaline or cell phone batteries.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Electrowaste

Are you talking about alkaline or cell phone batteries.

---

alkaline. PM me and i'll give you info.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Evan

This might be a stupid idea, but what about trying to contact the battery manufactures and see if they want them. If it's there own batteries then maybe they can reuse the electrolyte and zinc.

---

I was curious about whether or not this was a stupid idea so I actually contacted energizer. They contacted me back, and told me the materials from used batteries aren't good enough to make new batteries. So I guess it is a stupid idea. My mistake.

It's not stupid... The Snuggie, now that was stupid yet some dude made millions off of those backwards robes!!! Nothing ventured nothing gained and this forum is an amazing resource with some really intelligent people.

Looks like energizer changed their minds although it's only 4% for now.
Energizer’s new batteries are made from old batteries | Chips | Geek.com

I have close to 150lbs of assorted A's, C's and D's. I always take them because i usually get other things when picking them up. There was a place in Northern Ohio that use to buy them at .05lb, but no more. I just recycle at batteries plus and other places for free.

My yard buys mine at shred price. Ship them to MI Ill pay .05

Shred here as well for the alkaline ones.