'We Have Fires Once A Month': Minneapolis Ends Battery Recycling Amid Safety Concerns

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The city of Minneapolis is getting out of the battery collection business. It's following Hennepin County's lead, by pushing people to take rechargeable batteries to drop off facilities.

For years the city of Minneapolis worked with Hennepin County to collect and dispose of rechargeable batteries.

"We were collecting them at the curb and alley points, consolidating them into a container on the side of the truck," David Herberholz, the director of Solid Waste and Recycling, said.

Then a fire at a county building, a library where rechargeable batteries were collected, as well as fires inside of trucks that haul the recycled batteries, prompted Hennepin County to change its policy.

"At our Twin Cities recycling facility we have fires there once a month or twice a month," Julie Ketchum, the director of Governmental Affairs of Waste Management, said.

Last month, Hennepin County changed its policy, asking residents to use the county's drop off facilities in Brooklyn Park and Bloomington to recycle their lithium ion or rechargeable batteries.

"Battery recycling is much more complicated than it was in the past. We've been a partner with Hennepin County on this. They are getting out of battery recycling and we have to follow suit," Herberholz said.

Herberholz says AA batteries, and other alkaline batteries, can be thrown in the trash.

These batteries do not pose the same threat as a battery in a vape pen or your key fob can.

"Lithium batteries can deteriorate over time as they get older. They can get crushed in the pressure, which can destroy the battery and cause a fire," Ketchum said.

You can also take your rechargeable batteries to Home Depot and Best Buy, where they will properly dispose of them for you.

Solid Waste and Recycling plans to stop picking up batteries at curb and alley side pickups in Minneapolis on Dec. 2.