South Hennepin News

Hennepin County issued the following announcement on Nov. 4.

Hennepin County is immediately discontinuing battery collection at community locations, including city and county buildings, libraries, schools, and community centers. This change is because of a fire hazard.

Hennepin County will continue to accept batteries at the county’s drop-off facilities in Bloomington and Brooklyn Park. 

Fire risk contributed to decision

While the county strives to offer the most convenient recycling options for residents, the county can no longer collect these items in community locations. Vape pens/e-cig devices, which contain batteries, have been found in battery recycling bins. The combination of vape pens/e-cig devices that heat up when activated and rechargeable batteries that are flammable is dangerous.

The specific problem with vape pens is that many have a push button activator, which turns on the heat with very little pressure. In addition, it is difficult to remove the battery from the casing and requires tools, so residents dispose of these items with the batteries intact.

Learn about other options to discard batteries

 Alkaline batteries (single-use AA, AAA, etc.)

• These types of batteries do not contain hazardous material and may be placed in the trash.
• The county accepts alkaline batteries at its drop-off facilities only and will recycle them.

 Button batteries, Lithium ion and other rechargeable batteries

• These batteries do contain toxic metals and pose a threat if improperly disposed.
• Bring them to county drop-off facilities in Bloomington and Brooklyn Park or to hazardous waste event collections.
• If you cannot remove the battery from the device, bring the entire device to a Hennepin County drop-off facility.
• View additional drop-off sites for rechargeable batteries at Call2Recycle.org.

Find more information about battery recycling at hennepin.us/batteryrecycling.

Prevent fires by storing batteries safely  

• Place batteries in a clear plastic bag OR place clear tape on both the positive (+) and negative (-) terminals of batteries.
• Bring bulging or damaged lithium ion batteries to a drop-off facility as soon as possible. Do not place them in any recycling or trash containers                                                          

Original source can be found here.