CAUTION
DO NOT accumulate or store waste batteries for disposal for more than 90 days or for more than one year if following the guidance of the Universal Waste (UW) Rule.
WARNING
Personal protective equipment (PPE) MUST be used when handling batteries that show any signs of leaking, bulging, swelling, or deformity.
Batteries which have been abused or mishandled may be hazardous even though they are otherwise characterized as non-hazardous for disposal purposes.
Battery classes are shown in the table below by chemical composition, type numbers, and solid waste (SW) classification to indicate how batteries are characterized for disposal. Contact your local Installation Environmental Office (IEO) and/or DLA Disposition prior to turn-in of these batteries to determine how they will be received and managed.
- HW – Batteries classified hazardous waste (HW) under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations administered by the EPA or under state regulation should be disposed of through your local servicing DLA Disposition Services or via local contract. These batteries are also identified by an EPA HW number (HW#) for disposal.
- NHSW – Batteries classified as nonhazardous solid waste (NHSW) may be disposed of in accordance with local regulations.
States may have regulations that are more stringent than Federal regulations. In addition to RCRA requirements, some states utilize bioassay techniques to characterize the solid waste as HW.
Local activities (e.g., county landfill) may not allow the disposal of certain classes of non-hazardous batteries. In some localities these batteries may be disposed as solid waste, e.g., industrial waste. Therefore coordination of disposal with the IEO is essential to ensure regulatory compliance.
| Battery Class | Type Number | Solid Waste Classifications | ||||
| RCRA Class (EPA HW Number) | States with bioassay1 | |||||
| Alkaline (ALK) | BA-3000 Series | NHSW | HW | |||
| Carbon-Zinc (Leclanché) (LCE) | BA-2 through BA-471(except BA-245), BA-500 Series & BA-800 Series | NHSW | HW | |||
| Lithium-Carbon Monofluoride/Manganese Dioxide Hybrid (Li- CFx /MnO2) Completely Discharged Not Completely Discharged | BA-5700 Series | NHSW HW (D001, D003) | HW | |||
| Lithium-Manganese Dioxide (Li-MnO2) Completely Discharged Not Completely Discharged | BA-5300/U Series & BA-5516/U | NHSW HW (D001, D003) | HW | |||
| Lithium-Sulfur Dioxide2 (Li-SO2) Completely Discharged Not Completely Discharged | BA-5000 Series (except BA-5300/U’s, BA-5516/U & BA-5567/U, BA- 5700 series) | (Classified as Universal Waste because of Acetonitrile) UW HW (D001, D003) | UW HW | |||
| Lithium- Thionyl Chloride (Li-SOCl2) Completely Discharged Not Completely Discharged | BA-6000 Series | HW (D007) HW (D001, D003 & D007) | HW | |||
| Magnesium (Mg) Discharged ( < 50% charge remaining) Not Discharged ( > 50% charge remaining) | BA-4000 Series | NHSW HW (D007) | NHSW HW | |||
| Mercury (Hg)3 | BA-1000 Series | HW (D009) | HW | |||
| Silver (Ag)3 | BA-245/U, BA-2245/U, BA-XXXX, & BB-622B/U | HW (D009, D011) | HW | |||
| Thermal (THR) | BA-605/U, BA-617/U, BA-618A/U & BA-63O/U | HW (D007) | HW | |||
| Zinc-Air (Zn-Air) | BA-8XXX | NHSW | HW | |||
| Lead-acid (LA)2 | BB-XXX series | HW (D002, D008) | HW | |||
| Lithium Ion (Li-Ion)2 | BB-2XXX series | NHSW | HW | |||
| Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd)2 | BB-5XX series | HW (D002, D006) | HW | |||
| Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH)2 | BB-3XX | NHSW | HW | |||
| EPA HW NUMBER | HW CHARACTERISTIC | EPA HW NUMBER | HW CHARACTERISTIC | ||
| D001 | Ignitability | D007 | Chromium | ||
| D003 | Reactivity | D009 | Mercury | ||
| D006 | Cadmium | D011 | Silver | ||
Notes:
1CA, MN, RI and WA utilize bioassay or additional testing to characterize hazardous waste in addition to EPA’s RCRA requirement.
2These batteries may not be landfilled by reason of the Acetonitrile content before and after discharge.
3These batteries should be considered candidates for recycling.
For more information see TB 43-0134 Battery Disposition and Disposal.