This weekend my 2005 Prius started to show signs that the 12V auxiliary battery was giving up the ghost. It had been run down by accident before (mostly by my teenage son), so I knew what was causing the symptoms (interior beep with key off, O2 sensor code for no reason, etc.). The Optima battery wasn't available locally, so on Monday I went down to the dealer where I bought the car (Performance Toyota, Fairfield, OH) and bought a Toyota replacement battery for $15.00 less than the Optima. There was no core charge for the old battery. The guy who sold it to me said "We just trust you to bring the old one in." O.K. I installed the new battery on Tuesday. Yesterday I took the old battery back down to the dealer for them to recycle. The (different) guy at the counter said "Oh, we don't recycle them, we just throw them away." I was floored. I used to be a hazardous waste inspector for the PA Dept. of Environmental Resources. I have first had knowledge that lead-acid batteries are REQUIRED to be recycled in PA. In fact they are one of only two items banned from household trash pickup there. (The other is any liquid in excess of 1 gal.) Without thinking I left the battery with them anyway. I didn't want to be stuck with it, and I know enough about material recycling to know that market conditions can make it tough at times to get rid of things that should be recycled. I regretted leaving it there within minutes. Was this guy wrong? Is there some reason these batteries are not recycled? Does anyone know if throwing lead-acid batteries in the trash in Ohio is illegal like it is in PA? Even if this is legal, does Toyota let it's dealers do this?
Yes lead acid batteries must be recycled. Your dealer is either wrong, or doing things illegally. Toyota has very little to do with dealers.
The battery is worth $3-$5 at a scrap yard. I hope that by "throwing away" the parts guy throws it in the back of his truck and takes a lot down on Saturday for beer money.
Take it to a scrap metal place, they DO recycle them. They might even give you a few bucks for it, especially with high metals prices at the moment. The scrap place near me gave me about 4 dollars per battery last time dropped a few off.
I never succeeded in getting anyone to pay me for my spent 12 volt battery. I just dropped it off an an O'Reilly's auto parts store that takes them in for recycling.
i used the old battery myself just drill a few holes fil it up again do a disulfation charge ( special charger ) and the battery is up and running again! crank amps are stil in the ball park of whats supposed to be a new battery
Until the sulphate sediment reaches the plates, at which point it's a -very- good paperweight. No, the second parts guy didn't know what he was talking about (get a lot of that). They recycle them. It's required by law.
Sounds kinda messy. What do you do with the acid and gunk that you drain out? Also, why drill holes? Even the "no maintenance" ones like the Prius's have filler holes under the sticky label.
