New US Rules Impact Lithium-Ion Cell-Phone Battery Recycling

New US Federal Department of Transportation Hazardous Materials Regulations covering lithium-ion batteries -- which have just come into effect -- will impact both the cell-phone recycling industry and consumers who want to ship their wireless handsets for recycling.

ReCellular says that it is making changes to its own practices to comply with the regulations, and is introducing new information that will help consumers and ReCellular's partners comply as well.

"The Department of Transportation wanted to address potential safety hazards of shipping large quantities of lithium-ion batteries," says Brandi Farwig, ReCellular Environmental Manager. "Accordingly, the majority of the changes only apply to commercial shipments, but some of the changes will also impact consumers sending small numbers of phones for recycling."

Accordingly, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently issued a new regulation that requires that lithium-ion batteries either be shipped in their original equipment, or have tape over the terminal connections to help prevent short-circuits, which have been implicated in battery fires.. In addition, the DOT requires packages containing lithium batteries to be properly marked and labeled.

ReCellular recycles an average of 14,000 pounds of lithium-ion batteries every month, which are stored and shipped in 55-gallon steel drums in accordance with existing DOT rules. Updated shipping labels and documentation will be required by the new regulations.

Posted to the site on 1st October 2008