materialhandlingupdate
BY TOBY GOOLEY, SENIOR EDITOR
The basics of
battery recycling
Lift truck battery given up the ghost?
You can’t just put it out with the trash.
Here’s what to do instead.
NO LIFT TRUCK BATTERY LASTS FOREVER. NO MATter how carefully monitored or well maintained a battery
may be, there comes a time when it’s best to call it quits. But
once this costly piece of equipment has reached the end of
its useful life, what should you do with it?
Industrial batteries contain materials that could potentially harm people, facilities, and the environment if not
properly handled. So you can’t simply put a used battery
out with the trash. Nor can you burn it or chop it up like a
discarded wooden pallet.
There’s only one real option for disposing of worn-out
lift truck batteries today: recycling. Battery recycling is far
more complicated than the household version we’re all
familiar with. It’s governed by federal, state, and municipal
laws and regulations, and there are special considerations
when handling and transporting used batteries. We can’t
