Residents are 'turned on' by safe disposal of batteries

Battery purchases usually go up during the holiday season when needs increase. New remote controls, toys, flashlights, decorations and smoke detectors require batteries.

Then, when robots don't dance, mechanical dogs stop barking, race cars quit zooming and remote controls go dead, new batteries are bought.

The old ones, however, shouldn't go into household trash. They need to be taken to a safe disposal site.

Alkaline batteries are popular because they last longer than other types, but they also have more mercury. When they do go dead, consumers need a plan to safely dispose of them.

Batteries that go to landfills or are burned in trash incinerators can disperse poisonous heavy metals—including mercury, lead, cadmium and nickel—along with other toxic substances into both the water and air.

In Thousand Oaks there are five dropoff sites for old batteries. Containers can be found in the public works department at the Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.; at the Grant Brimhall/Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 E. Janss Road; at the Newbury Park Library, 2331 Borchard Road; and at the Goebel Senior Center, 1385 E. Janss Road.

The newest disposal site is at Thousand Oaks Community Center on 2525 N. Moorpark Road.

The city is looking into keeping track of the weight of batteries dropped at the battery disposal sites, public works senior analyst Stan Hakes said, to estimate the number of recycled batteries.

Old batteries are being picked up monthly at city hall and weekly at the four other sites, Hakes said.

The main library started out with two battery recycling collection devices and now has six to keep up with demand. Newbury Park Library had one container and now has three, he said.

"We're planning on having more disposal sites," Hakes said.

No household hazardous waste collection days—for paint, motor oil, pool chemicals, antifreeze and other hazardous materials—are planned in Thousand Oaks for the remainder of this year. To make an appointment for 2009, call (805) 449-SAVE (7283) or visit www.toaks.org and type "household hazardous waste" in the search function.