A battery is an electrochemical device with the ability to convert chemical energy to electrical energy to provide power to electronic devices. Batteries contain corrosive materials and heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel, which can contaminate the environment when they are improperly disposed of.

About 88% of the mercury (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury) and 50% of the Cadmium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmium) leached from landfills can be traced to discarded batteries (http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/batteries.php). Mercury has been proven to damage the nervous system (www.Mercury_poisoning) and cadmium causes kidney damage.These chemicals have the potential to leach from batteries and contaminate soil, groundwater, surface water and the ocean. These chemicals are extremely toxic to humans. When incinerated, certain metals might be released into the air or can concentrate in the ash produced by the combustion process. (http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/batteries.php)

Almost all rechargeable batteries also contain highly toxic chemicals, and all rechargeable batteries are known for their limited charge durations--ranging from only about 100 to 1,000 cycles. Many electronic devices with rechargeable batteries do not allow for easy removal or replacement of the batteries - so the batteries get disposed of in the garbage along with the product.

The average person owns about two button batteries, ten normal (A, AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, etc.) batteries, and throws out about eight household batteries per year. About three billion batteries are sold annually in the U.S. averaging about 32 per family or ten per person.

Controversy exists about reclaiming household batteries. Currently, most batteries collected through household battery collection programs are disposed of in hazardous waste landfills. Even stores and chains that have established take-back programs admit that it often ends up in the trash. There are no known recycling facilities in the U.S. that can practically and cost-effectively reclaim all types of household batteries, although facilities exist that reclaim some button batteries. Battery collection programs typically target button and nickel-cadmium batteries, but may collect all household batteries because of the consumers' difficulty in identifying battery types. This makes toxic battery disposal and recycling inefficient and expensive.

California has mandated recycling for "dry cell" batteries (http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/batteries.php) in an attempt to solve the environmental problem, but the program remains expensive and of marginal effectiveness.

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