Nickel▲Cadmium Batteries: The Status of State Requirements

TO:

FROM: David Keith Leff, Senior Attorney

RE: Nickel-Cadmium Batteries: The Status of State Requirements

You asked whether camcorders contain nickel-cadmium batteries, whether such batteries are dangerous if disposed of with municipal solid waste, what laws exist on the disposal of the batteries, and what are the current practices.

Nickel-cadmium batteries are used in camcorders and many other cordless electric products because they are rechargeable. As their name suggests, they contain nickel and cadmium which are both heavy metals and toxic. When disposed of the batteries are generally buried at landfills or burned in resource recovery plants which presents the possibility of their polluting the air or water. Furthermore, the batteries may contribute to making resources recovery ash hazardous, thus increasing disposal costs.

State law requires municipalities to recycle nickel-cadmium batteries following the establishment of a recycling service. Since no such service exists, few, if any towns now collect or recycle them. However, industry has plans to initiate recycling in Connecticut. The program will include consumer returns to retailers. State law also requires that nickel-cadmium batteries be easily removed from consumer products, and have warning labels.

A battery is one or more electrochemical storage cells. It delivers electrical energy produced in an oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction. A battery cell passes the electrons involved in its redox reaction to an external circuit. Batteries are made of two electrodes, an anode and a cathode, and an electrolyte. Nickel-cadmium batteries, as with all household batteries, are alkaline systems—as opposed to the acid systems common in vehicle batteries. A nickel-cadmium battery has nickel oxide as its cathode and cadmium as its anode. Household batteries are classified as primary if they are not rechargeable, and as secondary if they are. Secondary cells can be used repeatedly because the chemical reaction that creates the energy can be reversed, enabling the battery to be recharged. Nickel-cadmium batteries are rechargeable. Their ability to be recharged makes the batteries useful in camcorders, power tools, vacuum cleaners, and other appliances.

Unless recycled, nickel-cadmium batteries are disposed of principally in resource recovery plants or landfills. These means of disposal allow for the possible release of nickel and cadmium to air or water.

The fate of battery metals in mixed waste landfills is difficult to predict, and though it is unlikely they would be released rapidly, there is potential for groundwater contamination over time. The overall load of metals in soil and a specific soil's ability to bind metals are important factors in determining whether groundwater contamination will occur.

Although some nickel and cadmium may be released into the air by a resource recovery plant, the vast majority is captured in bottom and fly ash. The amount released depends on the nature of the incinerator, its operation, and its air pollution control devices. Since incineration reduces waste volume, it concentrates the metals in the ash. The potential for leaching depends on the nature of the disposal site, and the acidity of the ash, rainfall, and surrounding soils. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision held that ash from resource recovery plants can be considered a hazardous waste under federal regulations if the ash fails toxicity tests (City of Chicago v. Environmental Defense Fund, 114 S. Ct. 1588 (1994)). Rechargeable batteries in the municipal waste stream can contribute to ash toxicity and drive up the cost of ash disposal.

Both nickel and cadmium are heavy metals and are toxic in certain concentrations. Soluble compounds of cadmium are highly toxic, with ingestion causing vomiting or diarrhea. Air exposure to cadmium can cause kidney and lung damage. Both metals are considered toxic pollutants under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 (PL 92-500). Although it is debatable whether household batteries alone are creating a health risk, they do increase the load of heavy metals in the environment which in turn raises the possibility of human exposure the impacts of which are uncertain.

Each municipality in Connecticut is required to recycle nickel-cadmium batteries contained in consumer products that are disposed of in municipal solid waste within three months of the establishment of service to the municipality by a regional or local processing center (CGS § 22a-256a). No such center has yet to be established, although some municipalities may be collecting

batteries, according to Tom Metzner of the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) Bureau of Waste Management. But, Metzner states that industry has plans to initiate collection of nickel-cadmium batteries soon.

The Portable Rechargeable Battery Association, a trade group for rechargeable battery and product manufacturers, has conducted pilot recycling programs in Minnesota and New Jersey. Based on these programs the industry has created the National Rechargeable Battery Management Program under the auspices of the nonprofit Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation. The program will collect used nickel-cadmium batteries from consumers, including returns to retailers when new batteries are purchased. Under the program, the corporation will pay recycling charges and shipping for recycling. At no charge, retailers will be provided battery collection kits, including collection containers, instructions, and prepaid pre-addressed United Parcel Service shipping labels. The corporation will also provide regional consolidation points to which commercial and institutional generators can ship used batteries. The program pays shipping costs from the regional consolidation point to the recycler. The program is funded by license fees paid by manufacturers to place the corporation recycling logo on their batteries and products.

Although now regulated as a hazardous waste, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will soon make final a new rule to deregulate used batteries. This new regulation, called the Universal Waste Rule, must also be adopted by states to take effect. Minnesota and new Jersey have done so under a pilot project. The battery recycling program can be implemented only in states where the Universal Waste Rule has been adopted. According to David Thompson, president of the corporation, final approval of the Universal Waste Rule is imminent. The corporation applied to DEP in September to begin a recycling program in Connecticut. DEP is waiting for approval of the Universal Waste Rule. Thompson states that the recycling program can easily begin within six months of obtaining DEP's go ahead.

State law requires that consumer products containing nickel-cadmium batteries allow easy removal of the battery by the consumer or have the battery in a separate battery pack that is easily removed (CGS § 22a-256b). The product, its container, or the battery itself must be labeled in a manner visible to the consumer to the effect that the product contains a nickel-cadmium battery which requires proper disposal. Products that do not meet these requirements by July 1, 1993 are prohibited from sale. But, the DEP commissioner may authorize sale of a product which does not meet the removability requirement if the product was available for sale before October 2, 1990 and the commissioner determines that it cannot reasonably be redesigned and manufactured by July 1, 1993, or the redesign of the product “would result in significant danger to public health and safety or substantial job losses in the state.” The first type of exemption is limited to two years and is not renewable. Several exemptions have been granted for inventory manufactured before July 1, 1993 for products such as electric toothbrushes and power tools.