Every home will soon have a laptop. So, where do the recycled laptop batteries go? I am on my fourth laptop in eight years. I have changed companies so the turnover has not all gone to the landfill. However, on the two IBMs, the Dell and my new ASUS model the thing that seems to go first is the battery. While the current one I’m using is not out completely, the cycle times have decreased. There are only so many times a battery can be recharged (300 to 500, depending on type). New batteries seem to be the most expensive thing to replace on my laptop. Well, maybe not, but it seems to be what I am spending the money on. It seems we get nothing back on the recycling of the battery except to “feel good” that I did not put it in the trash. Where is that battery going and is it just being crushed and thrown in a landfill in another country? I want to decrease my footprint, not just move it to another country.

I did find an interesting article on refurbishing a laptop battery yourself, though I have yet to try it. There is also a company mentioned in this article that will take out the dead cells and replace them. And here is an article on simply what happens to the battery when you send it to be recycled.