Recycle Batteries as Daylight Savings Ends, Holidays Begin!

As daylight saving time ends Nov. 2 and Americans set their clocks back one hour, it’s a time when many diligent folks change the batteries in their home smoke detectors. And with plenty of holiday cooking around the corner, Waste Management of the Antelope Valley uses the occasion to remind Antelope Valley residents that proper disposal and recycling of electronics and batteries is easy and the right thing to do.

“With that extra hour, you have the gift of time to ensure a safe and delicious holiday season” Sandra Pursley of Waste Management said. “It’s important to check your home smoke detection devices before the holiday cooking begins, and it’s just as important to properly handle and recycle batteries that are no longer in use.”

“Some types of batteries contain toxic constituents, such as mercury and cadmium,” Pursley said. “Batteries and electronic products do not belong in the trash.”

Many states have regulations in place requiring battery recycling. They can be brought to a sanctioned place and there are mail-in programs too. Waste Management of the Antelope Valley residential customers can easily dispose of household batteries such as AA, AAA, C cells, D cells and button batteries as well as used electronics such as televisions, monitors, computers, cell phones and printers at the Antelope Valley Environmental Collection Center.

The Antelope Valley Environmental Collection Center is open to the public on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, from 9 am until 3 pm, and is located at 1200 W. City Ranch Road in Palmdale. For more information, visit ladpw.org/epd/avecc/ or call 1-888-CLEAN LA.

Business or commercial waste will not be accepted.

For more information on batteries, including relevant legislation, industry initiatives and publications, folks can visit EPA’s Common Wastes and Materials Battery link. Batteries and smoke detectors should never be placed in a household recycling bin.

In addition, smoke alarms and detectors contain small amounts of radioactive waste, and should only be handled by an electronics recycling plant. EPA has an informative section on smoke detectors on its Web site.  

ABOUT WASTE MANAGEMENT

Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are the largest residential recycler and also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill-gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more visit www.wm.com.