Best Way to Dispose Lipo Chargers Batteries

[Leonine]

Hey everyone, 

Been sorting out the spare room in my new house and have set up an Airsoft section for myself. 
I have a box of old chargers and batteries which are not working or just don’t trust ?How do I go about disposing them properly?

Sorry if this question has been asked a million times before.

Thanks 

 

[EDcase]

Chargers can be disposed of at the local waste recycling depot in electrical goods section.

Old batteries I will hammer a nail through to make sure they're completely discharged (and maybe watch some fireworks)

Then ask at the recycling depot if they have a section for used batteries.

 

[Nick G]

With lipo's the system lots of the RC guys use is to cut off the connector , do one wire at a time so cutters cant cause a short, then drop the battery into a bucket of salt water for a few days. The theory is that this completely discharges the battery safely . No idea if the theory is totally sound , but certainly not going to hurt. Then take to battery disposal depot etc.

 

[Rogerborg]

Run a discharge cycle on my B6, snip the wires (so I can save the connector, not because it's safer) then drop into the recycling container at any shop.

They are obliged by law to accept anything up to and including laptop and hand-held vacuum cleaner batteries with chemistry and energies of the order of airsoft batteries:

https://www.gov.uk/battery-waste-supplier-reponsibilities

If they choose to have a overflowing thin plastic bin of volatile chemicals sitting right by their main exit, that's between them and the HSE.

 

[Musica]

Run a discharge cycle on my B6, snip the wires (so I can save the connector, not because it's safer) then drop into the recycling container at any shop.

They are obliged by law to accept anything up to and including laptop and hand-held vacuum cleaner batteries with chemistry and energies of the order of airsoft batteries:

https://www.gov.uk/battery-waste-supplier-reponsibilities

If they choose to have a overflowing thin plastic bin of volatile chemicals sitting right by their main exit, that's between them and the HSE.

Click to shrink...

Any shop? Ann summers chucked me out! 

 

[Tommikka]

Any shop? Ann summers chucked me out! 

Click to shrink...

In my (limited) experience of Ann Summers shops, I’ve found it difficult to get chucked out.

Though I was in a branch with my ex of the time (and her daughter) who would have been in designer clothing, so they were hoping for big sales.

They allowed us in with her daughter provided she stayed in the front half of the shop - which she did, whilst knocking over half of the displays.

Back on topic — battery recycling bins should be treated with some caution. There have been fires in the UK as a result of normal battery recycling, and often by 9 volt battery’s.

Unless you tape over the contacts there is a higher chance of them being shorted and overheating.

I would save the more unusual batteries such as LiPos for more suitable recycling points - not just any battery bin at any shop, but a recycling centre or electronics shop etc and to tell someone what you are dropping off

 

[Rogerborg]

Back on topic — battery recycling bins should be treated with some caution. There have been fires in the UK as a result of normal battery recycling, and often by 9 volt battery’s.

Click to shrink...

Sure, throw it in and run.

I would save the more unusual batteries such as LiPos for more suitable recycling points - not just any battery bin at any shop, but a recycling centre or electronics shop etc and to tell someone what you are dropping off

Click to shrink...

Lipo isn't unusual any more, which is why the law is that retailers must be prepared to handle laptop and vacuum cleaner batteries.  They clearly aren't set up for that though.

A big airsoft lipo might be 11.1V x 2.60Ah or about 29Wh.  For comparison, a Dyson V6 vacuum cleaner battery - which all retailers who sell batteries are required to accept - is 21.6V x 3Ah = 65WH, or 234,000 Joules, so we're not even getting up to that level of kersplosion.  For further comparison, hand grenades come in at about 250,000 Joules.

I guess an open air bin fire in a civic recycling centre would be less hazardous, but I doubt the employees would give a stuff either way.  Electronics shop?  Well, you could go to Currys and say "Do you have safe storage for this lipo?" and see if they do anything but look at you like you're a space alien then wave you towards the AA bin.

Sadly, it's going to take a proper lipo fire in a shop bin to force them to take this seriously - Health and Safety regulations are written in the blood of innocents. I'll re-iterate though that their responsibility is already quite clear, they're all required to handle the big stuff, and it does actually bother me to see big barrels of batteries sitting right by the main door.  Those things should be emptied out regularly, not just when they overflow.