Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County News
April 12, 2021
Contact: Willie Puz, Public Affairs and Recycling, 561-640-8914 (o); 561-379-2405 (c)
SWA’s April Household Hazardous Waste Tip
~ Rechargeable batteries can cause fires if put in recycling bins or the trash~
Throwing rechargeable batteries in a recycling bin or the garbage can put property and people’s lives at risk. In fact, fires traced to lithium ion batteries have been reported at recycling facilities nationwide, and fires have started in the garbage trucks that go to your home.
These batteries power our cell phones, cordless power tools and even hover boards. According to a recent Resource Recycling article, they have components that are flammable. The battery heats up when shorted or damaged, and when that happens, they produce oxygen, which facilitates combustion.
“Production of these batteries continues to increase,” said SWA Director of Facility Contract Operations Ray Schauer. “The fact that we are experiencing an increase in fires at our facilities is cause for serious concern.”
Fortunately, Palm Beach County residents can dispose of rechargeable (non-alkaline) batteries at any of the SWA's seven Home Chemical and Recycling Centers.
Regular alkaline batteries (AA, AAA, C, D and 9 volt) can be placed in your garbage. But any other type of battery (rechargeable, nickel-cadmium, automotive, lithium-ion, cell phone, lead-acid) should be dropped at one of the Home Chemical and Recycling Centers.
The SWA’s locations include (from north county to south county):
● Jupiter
North County Transfer Station
14185 N. Military Trail (SWA Road) in Jupiter
Monday - Friday: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m. - 3 p.m.
● West Palm Beach
Home Chemical and Recycling Center
6161 N. Jog Road in West Palm Beach
Monday - Friday: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.
● Belle Glade
Glades Regional Transfer Station
1701 State Road 15 in Belle Glade
Monday - Friday: 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
● Royal Palm Beach
West Central Transfer Station
9743 Weisman Way (formerly Process Way) in Royal Palm Beach
Monday - Friday: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m. - 3 p.m.
● Lantana
Central County Transfer Station
1810 Lantana Road in Lantana
Monday - Friday: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m. - 12 p.m.
● Delray Beach – West
Southwest County Transfer Station
13400 S. State Road 7 in Delray Beach
Monday - Friday: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m. - 3 p.m.
● Delray Beach – East
South County Transfer Station
1901 SW 4th Ave. in Delray Beach
Monday - Friday: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m. - 3 p.m.
In addition to these locations, many major retailers will recycle batteries for free, and have drop-off containers placed near the front of their stores.
“We’re asking all Palm Beach County residents to please never throw rechargeable batteries either in the garbage or your recycling bin,” said Schauer. “The best place for Palm Beach County residents to take their old batteries is to one of the SWA’s Home Chemical and Recycling Centers.”
Commercial quantities of batteries may require special disposal. Call 561-687-1100 for details on recycling batteries from your business.
In the last fiscal year, Palm Beach County residents recycled:
- 57,460 pounds of lead acid batteries
- 6,896 pounds of mixed batteries
- 3,400 pounds of ni-cad batteries and
- 2,280 pounds of lithium ion batteries
at the SWA’s Home Chemical and Recycling Centers. Each year, the SWA’s Home Chemical and Recycling Centers either recycles or safely disposes of more than 4M pounds of household hazardous wastes.
Remember, pollution prevention starts at home. A full list of household hazardous wastes can be found at SWA.org/HCRC or call 561-697-2700 or 866-SWA-INFO (toll-free) to learn more about the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County’s Home Chemical and Recycling Centers.
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About the SWA
The Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County is a Dependent Special District that was created by the Florida Legislature in 1975. Since then, the SWA has developed an award-winning integrated solid waste management system to handle the county’s waste and recyclables. We call ourselves AWAY: whether you throw it, recycle it or flush it AWAY, we put your waste to work. Each year, we:
- Process more than 100,000 tons of recyclables each year
- Combust approximately 1.8 million tons of trash each year to generate electricity at renewable energy facilities
- Produce enough electricity to power approximately 74,000 homes, about the number of homes in Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens
- Recycle more than 150,000 tons of wastewater treatment residuals (sludge from flushes) into environmentally-friendly fertilizer
- Safely dispose of more than 4 million pounds of home hazards a year
- Collect water off of the roofs of Renewable Energy Facility 2 and store it in a 2 million gallon cistern, which is used as part of the energy making process
With the recent changes to the SWA’s website, anyone can now sign up to receive SWA news, calendar updates, jobs, or other Web postings of interest by signing up online. Should you sign up online to receive SWA’s news releases, we can remove you from this distribution by sending a REMOVE reply to this email.
