What Do You Do With Your Defective/useless Chargers And Batteries?

Discussion in Computers, Electronics & Gadgets started by sidney • Mar 30, 2015.

  1. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I have a bunch of defective chargers and bloated/useless batteries and I know I can't throw them in the thrash because of the harmful materials inside the charger and the battery. So they're stuck at my drawers and I don't know how to dispose of them. I know there are certain thrash cans for such items in public, but I haven't chanced upon one yet. So I'm wondering how do you dispose of your useless chargers and batteries? Do you just throw them in your thrash can or you take them to the proper facility or thrash can to be disposed of?
     
  2. xTinx

    xTinxWell-Known Member

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    They're gathering dust in a paper bag somewhere in my room. I don't know what to do with them. I must have thrown a few chargers in the trash but I'm not certain whether it's appropriate to throw batteries away when they're supposed to contain lead or mercury. Maybe I'll just have to sell them to people who'll need them for something. I'm not sure where, though.
     
  3. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I have bought from

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    so you can try selling them there if the batteries are still in good working condition. Defective phones are also being bought there, I posted an ad for my defective phone and I got a couple of inquiries. As for the chargers, I think they can be of no use to someone, so I think they must be disposed of accordingly. I was told that there are public thrash cans for such items in the malls, but I haven't seen one yet though.
     
  4. troutski

    troutskiWell-Known Member

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    I doubt mobile phone chargers are that dangerous to throw away. They contain wiring, and that's pretty much it. So they're recyclable to some degree, but they're not harmful to the environment. On the other hand, batteries should always be recycled rather than thrown away, and I always recycle my old lithium batteries when they're no longer useful.
     
  5. Aladar

    AladarWell-Known Member

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    If you don't know where to dispose of batteries in your city, I would suggest calling or mailing your city information centre or city office, they should have the information about that, as I assume most countries don't use any kind of private service for their waste services.
     
  6. missbishi

    missbishiWell-Known Member

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    There are several places to recycle batteries in my city, usually in supermarkets and shopping centers but you need to take chargers to the local dump. Our dump, or recycling center as they like to call it now, has several different sections to dispose of different types of items and chargers go off to get recycled along with the CRT monitors and tube televisions.
     
  7. tipoywizard

    tipoywizardActive Member

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    I don't know about chargers but batteries are indeed highly toxic and harmful to the environment. Bring or mail it to your carbage station. They know how to dispose such harmful things. Never ever dump batteries in the regular bins or worst in rivers.
     
  8. moss

    mossNew Member

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    I usually put all my old batteries and whatnot in a designated bag, and then once that bag gets full I then bring it to a garbage or recycling center. There, they could safely dispose of it. I don't trust throwing away batteries (and possibly chargers, depending on the kind I suppose) into the normal trash, and don't want to risk harming the environment.
     
  9. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    I keep all my old chargers and other accessories and peripherals because I usually keep the gadgets they are used for as well. I don't think about selling them or throwing them out because they aren't worth much and I'd much rather just keep them for emergencies or for the information I have stored in them. They don't take up that much space anyway so I don't mind.
     
  10. Pat

    PatWell-Known Member

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    I will need to start holding onto those batteries. I know they should not be put in the trash but that is usually what I do with them, hold onto them for a while and then just dump them. I hold onto my device chargers mustly because they still work.
     
  11. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    So until now all of your old gadgets and the batteries that came with them are still working properly? I know original chargers can last for many years, but batteries? From my experience the longest time I used a battery was 2 years and 9 months. After that I can't use it anymore because it drains so fast.
     
  12. HueyTheFreeman

    HueyTheFreemanNew Member

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    I usually put them in the trash, which I know I'm not supposed to do. I've been trying to refrain from that, and I heard Best Buy usually takes them to safely recycle them. So I'll probably start doing that. I usually sell my old chargers or give them away.
     
  13. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    I haven't really tried to use any of them again, honestly, but I just removed the batteries and kept them together with the chargers. I don't plan on using them for long in the future anyway, just maybe I'd want to see some of the old photos or text messages I have in them and it would just take me a few minutes to look at them or transfer them. Hopefully they would still work in the future enough for me to be able to do those.
     
  14. S.O. Price

    S.O. PriceActive Member

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    Best Buy does take used batteries. I dropped off a bag of old batteries last Fall at their store. They had a bin available right inside their doors. They actually had several bins; I think they also take old cell phones and a few other things. You might want to call them and ask about all the items they are willing to recycle.
     
  15. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Well, as long as the device works fine then they're safe, but you'll never know if 1 day they will stop working as well. You ought to back up your data to a flash drive to be able to preserve them.

    I'm not from the US and there's no Best Buy over here, but I'm sure anyone who reads this who has a Best Buy store nearby will find the info useful when they intend to dispose of their useless gadgets, chargers, and batteries.
     
  16. Theo

    TheoWell-Known Member

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    We also have supermarkets that take old batteries. They usually have a transparent box people can leave them in and then they are all taken away to be safely destroyed. Usually they are not advertised, but you see them near the customer service desk or by the doors of the store. Stores like Argos (a catalog store) also has these bins, but most places won't take electrical appliances.

    Best Buy do take old items as my friend took her television in, as I did it for her. They are used to it and are happy to help in general.
     
  17. rightct

    rightctActive Member

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    I usually find buyers for them. You'd be surprised how many people are willing to buy these defective chargers, batteries, and other components, God knows why, and they usually buy them for half of its original value. Just search for related shopping sites, like Ebay, and you will see a lot of people selling their defective appliances.
    Of course, this doesn't happen often, and because I have a lot of old gadgets in my house, their auxiliaries which don't sell, tend to "rest" in a forgotten plastic bag outside of my house.
     
  18. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I know defective phones are bought for their working parts or for their housing, but defective chargers and batteries? I don't think they would be of any use, unless the charger can be repaired. That is weird, unless they can resell those items at a higher value in a junk shop or something.
     
  19. rightct

    rightctActive Member

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    Well, most of the time, the charger has a certain probability of being repaired, that's why people buy them, but I don't understand why are they willing to spend endless amount of time to repair something that can be bought for, what, 5 bucks?
    People buy them, and this is all that matters to me. Their reason behind all of this, I'm not so sure, but I hope they will never stop doing it. :)
     
  20. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Maybe the chargers are already phase out and you can only buy them online. How much do you earn per charger that you sold? Is it at least $5?