I was cleaning our a drawer and found an old cell phone with a swelling battery. I know i can’t/shouldn’t throw it away but because it is swollen recycling seems to be off the table as well. I found a place that would take it but they wanted $150 for the packaging to make it safe to mail.
I’m in north-west Louisiana. How do I get rid of it.
Not to hijack your question, but I’m in a similar situation where the Anker power bank I use to charge my phone got recalled because it can apparently cause fires. Lurking here to see how people respond to your question, because I know I shouldn’t just throw it away, and none of the battery recycle places around town will take it because it’s been recalled.
If its recalled don’t you return it for a refund usually?
They didn’t offer that, they only offered a replacement.
Well a replacement is fine as well right? At least, assuming they got rid of the problem in the new one.
Oh I’m thankful for the replacement, I’m just not thrilled with now having to find a way to properly dispose of the faulty one.
Oh yeah totally forgot about that part haha. Just put in the trash of a neighbour you don’t like, might solve two problems in one go 😉
Batteries shouldn’t go into garbage because they can and will leak or explode. We have a regular recycling service around here, but they don’t take many kinds of batteries (including lithium ones).
There’s a county “hazardous waste” service that takes things like paint and old fuel for generators. They take some things but not others. There’s also a separate “e-waste” service. Last time I had a few things to drop off, I had to call to find which ones would take a specific type of battery.
I’ve got the same Anker recall. Will be calling around next week to find which place will take them.