Having saved up another year's worth of used batteries, I was strangely having a hard time finding a place to take them; the usual battery disposal bins at work were no longer installed. Finally getting around to searching online I am finding that the recycling programs for these batteries are being shut down. Bizarrely, all the county recycling programs are now requesting that these batteries just get thrown in the trash, under the orwellian excuse that they "no longer contain mercury since 1996". What a shame. Here are some of the links to this effect:
http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/dep/solidwaste/collectionservices/material_detail.asp?categoryID=34
http://www.howardcountymd.gov/Batteries.htm
This link seems to offer hope that Alkalines are still taken by somebody, and also have the list of retailers that take them back (Radio Shack for example):
http://www.ehow.com/how_7859426_recycle-alkaline-batteries-baltimore-maryland.html
According this link, I could either kill a Saturday trekking out to Alpha Ridge Landfill, or try taking them to MOM's:
http://ellicottcity.patch.com/articles/properly-dispose-of-cfls-and-alkaline-batteries
