Plastic bag use-it’s a US DOT requirement for transporting hazardous materials. It is not safe to do otherwise and the recycling vendor won’t accept them if they are not bagged individually. We agree that we should be limiting the use of single use bags, but if it is a requirement for transport, we have to comply. On balance we feel that removing hazardous materials from the environment outweighs the problems associated with the single use bags. We will reach out to the recycling firms and ask them what happens to the bags during the recycling process.

The workstation sign says to recycle your “rechargeable batteries” here.

Single use alkaline batteries are not hazardous and they can be thrown away as trash. MORE INFORMATION HERE

It is time consuming to individually bag the batteries, CFLs and ink cartridges. However, it is not safe to store batteries mixed all together. It is a fire hazard.

With respect to the CFLs, the bags will prevent hazardous chemicals (Mercury) from releasing into the air should the CFL break. GOOD NEWS –  the CFL bulb recycling vendor now says that we can put multiple CFLs in each bag.

The ink cartridges must be bagged so that the ink does not leak all over the place. MORE GOOD NEWS – the vendor now says that we can place more than one ink cartridge in each bag.

The workstation is designed to make the process as easy and as safe as is possible. This is not to say we think this is an easy process for people trying to do the right thing and recycle these items. There is no other way to do this safely and in compliance with vendor/US DOT requirements.