Batteries in greeting cards: don't let them escape.
Everyone knows them: the greeting cards with little tunes, spoken wishes, and light effects. But are you also familiar with the tiny batteries that power these features - usually invisibly? And do you know what you should do with them when the greeting cards are ready for recycling?
Musical greeting cards
"Happy birthday to you!", "Jingle bells, jingle all the way!": these are just two famous tunes that sometimes blast from greeting cards when you open them. A top seller in sales: each year, several million of these are sold over the counter. Not only in the form of cards, but also as little wish boxes. Less known are the batteries that provide the sound and/or light. Usually, they remain 'undercover', hidden inside the greeting card. Over time, they invisibly disappear with the old paper.
Batteries in between paper waste: why is this not a good idea?
Why do the batteries in greeting cards deserve more attention? There is more than one good reason for that. Musical greeting cards are becoming increasingly popular, but many people do not realize that these also contain a battery.
In most cases, they are small alkaline button cell batteries, 2 to 3 per card. When they are thrown away with the greeting card in the paper recycling, it contaminates the paper fraction (stream of paper waste). As a result, the recycling of the paper becomes more difficult.
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Caution: risk of short circuit
The majority of batteries in greeting cards are alkaline button cells, but very occasionally they involve a different type: lithium button cells.
Greeting card manufacturers assured Bebat that lithium batteries are rarely used in greeting cards, but we still want to warn that they may carry their own risks. When they become damaged, they can short-circuit. This can cause them to heat up and even ignite. Naturally, this is very risky in combination with paper.
What to do with batteries in greeting cards?
What can you do to keep the batteries out of the paper stream?
- Tear open the greeting card until the electronic plate is visible. The button cells (2 or 3) are generally loose in there.
- Gently remove the button cells with a screwdriver or pen holder.
- If you package them together with 9V batteries? Protect the poles of the 9V batteries with a piece of tape. Why? Read about it here!
- Take the button cells to a Bebat collection point, so they can be recycled.
- Are you unable to remove the batteries because they are stuck? Remove the entire electronic plate. You can go to a collection point for small electronics with the electronic plate (with or without batteries).
