Hi;
Just an FYI...I work for an e-scrap company but I would like to give some input on battery scrap. We do a lot of lead and a pretty fair amount of rechargeable (Ni-Cd, Li-Ion, NiMH, Wet Ni-Cd) P=
Defenitely save them. I won't go into pricing because I tend to buy from commercial sources. All of my prices are therefore "skewed" in that I tend to assume sellers have large quantities.
Lead...
Oh my Lord how I love lead. It is so actively traded. A truck load of steel case, UPS or auto is as good as money in the bank these days!
Oh..and reagarding UPS batteries...there are often old UPS systems to go with it! If you are going after commercial accounts get those too. They can be sold whole or stripped apart for transformers.
Li-Ion....
Laptop batteries - there is a market for used, don't discount it!
Cell phone (Li-Ion...but older ones have NiMH and Ni-Cd)- as a scrap generally the same as laptops, unless you have a buyer in the used category. There are also buyers of used cell phone batteries, but that takes some quantity.
Wet NiCd
I love wet Ni-Cd. There are still a few people that think they need to pay to get rid of it. Sometimes I wish I had a little bit more of an evil bent to my nautre. Enought said!
Edison Batteries - (Nickel Iron) - I don't think these have been made in ages. To me, worth the same as Wet NiCd
Dry Ni-Cd....you already know about that from other posts. They are made in the same sizes as alkaline batteries as well as rechargeable tool batteries and other sources
Ni-Mh - They are also made in common sizes.
Beware of the following -
Li-Ion from cordless tools. You see the Li-Ion and start to salivate only to find that no one wants them. To the best of my knowledge this is a different type of Li-Ion chemistry than the laptops and cell phone.
And an intersting one!...
Absolyte (Pb-Cd) - These are found in generally large steel racks or in steel cased material handling applications, however you will also see them in truck battery sized "soft shell". The smelters we use have the nerve to try to charge for them. We have active markets for them (currently).
They are NOT big dollar items....but as freebies they are great!
A lot of people think they are a negative value item. In small quantities they are, but if you ever gather a ton or so...well...don't hesitate to contact me (lol!)
A word on values:
Quantity is everything. 50 lbs of Ni-Cd is not going to make anyone want to negotiate with you. Lead is easy to make weight on and so actively sought right now that yards are getting more competitive for it.
Again, I hope my information is not too vague and I commend you for going after this stuff! If I was a smarter person years ago I would have done this for myself instead of just working for someone who does
