Gem City Recycling
Home / What we take / Batteries
Out of the back room before something heats up.
Do not belong in the trash. They contain hazardous materials and need a safe home after losing their charge.
The hauler said no, so they went back on the shelf.
Charge state is the thing that makes batteries different. A lithium pack in a compactor is an ignition source, which is why more haulers refuse them outright and why they keep piling up in back rooms. A swollen or hot cell is the urgent one, not the tub of alkalines sitting next to it.
Every chemistry in the building.
Sealed lead acid, lithium ion, nickel cadmium, alkaline, UPS and emergency-light packs. Lithium in particular is a fire risk in a compactor, which is why haulers increasingly refuse it and why it piles up in back rooms.
Fire, and heavy metals. A lithium pack in a trash compactor is a real ignition source.
- Sealed lead acid (SLA)
- Lithium ion and lithium metal
- Nickel cadmium and NiMH
- Alkaline
- UPS and backup battery packs
- Emergency and exit-light batteries
A swollen, hot or leaking cell is the one to phone about.
The pile of alkalines can wait for a scheduled pickup. A cell that has changed shape, is warm to the touch, or is weeping should be isolated and reported on the phone, so it gets handled deliberately rather than sitting in a box with everything else.
(937) 603-1239Tape the terminals. Sort the chemistries.
Two minutes of tape is the difference between a box of spent cells and a box that can short against itself in transit.
- 01Tape the terminals on anything lithium or sealed lead acid before it goes in a box.
- 02Keep a swollen, hot or leaking cell separate, and say so when you call.
- 03Do not tip mixed chemistries loose into one bucket. Sorted is safer and faster to load.
- 04Keep the box off the floor, dry, and out of direct sun.
Gone, and accounted for.
Certificate of Recycling
The document that says the material was recycled and names where it went. It is the piece an inspector or an auditor actually wants to see.
Source · their archived About page: "Send Certificate of Recycling"Disposal paperwork for the file
The proper paperwork and certificates verifying environmentally responsible disposal, made out to the business that generated the material.
Source · their archived About page, near verbatimElectronic copies
We take care of the paperwork and make sure you have electronic copies, so the record is not one sheet of paper in one binder.
Source · their archived About page: "We take care of the paperwork & ensure you have electronic copies"Gem City collects and transports. The processing facilities are separate registered operations, and the certificate names where the material was delivered.
Chemistry and rough weight. A drum of sealed lead acid and a shoebox of alkalines are two different jobs.
Clear the shelf.
The shelf is clear, the fire risk leaves with the truck, and the paperwork is in your file. Tell us what chemistries you have and roughly how much. A photo of the shelf works.