Do rechargeable batteries save money and reduce waste?

Rechargeable batteries Vs disposable batteries: Is it really worth the hassle of buying a battery charger and charge the batteries when they run out of power?

Is it not way easier to change an already discharged battery for a new one and just keep that expended battery on a box until you have time to take it to a collection spot?

Well, disposable batteries may have both an economic and a environmental impact so keep reading to know if in your particular case it is is worth to start using rechargeable batteries.

IKEA has recently made an announcement stating that: 

‘ Following IKEA’s commitment to inspire and enable people to live a healthier and more sustainable life at home, all non-rechargeable alkaline batteries will be removed from the global home furnishing range by October 2021. 

With this decision, IKEA wishes to inspire consumers who need to frequently use batteries to make a switch to rechargeable batteries. 

Regular use over time enables consumers to both save money and reduce waste at home.’ 

On the same announcement, IKEA mentions that:

‘Already after 10 charges of a rechargeable NiMH battery, such as the LADDA range sold in IKEA stores, greenhouse gas emissions are lower as compared to using alkaline batteries to obtain the same amount of energy. 

When about 50 charges are reached, the overall environmental impact [2] of NiMH batteries is equal or even less than the impact of using alkaline batteries.[3]‘ 

As well as:

‘ IKEA sold roughly 300 million ALKALISK alkaline batteries last year and estimates that discontinuing them could lead to a reduction of 5,000 tons of global waste if all customers switched to rechargeable batteries and used them at least 50 cycles (which is just 10% of the 500 charge/discharge cycles each LADDA battery is rated for).’ 

Well, from IKEA’s perspective, it really looks like that it makes sense to change to rechargeable batteries but let’s have a look to what is the economic and environmental impact for the average household.

Is it worth to buy and use rechargeable batteries?

A rechargeable battery it is roughly 4 times more expensive that a disposable battery and on the top of that we also need to buy a battery charger.

Also, charging the batteries must consume some electricity so, does charging batteries increase our electricity bill?

All those factors need to be considered as well as each one’s individual case. 

If you are an individual and you only use batteries for the TV remote control and maybe for your wireless mouse, then having to buy a batteries charger for the more expensive rechargeable batteries makes no sense. 

This is because maybe you will be using a pack of 8 batteries per year so the payback period would be far too long. In your case, from the money perspective, it makes sense to use disposable batteries

Still, if as an individual you have a hobby (e.g. photography) that requires the frequent use of batteries, than it really makes sense to buy rechargeable batteries.

On the other side, if you have one or more children at home you must know that many toys consume batteries at an alarming rate so in your case it is quite probable that you will be saving money by using rechargeable batteries.

As shown on the picture above, it takes only 16 recharges to pay back the battery charger and the extra cost of having to buy rechargeable batteries. For some families, 16 battery recharges can take place over a single Christmas period…

But, how much does it cost to recharge the batteries? This factor should be considered when deciding if buying rechargeable batteries it is worth, isn’t it?

Well, personally I pay 0,217 per every kWh I consume and using a plug in power meter I have measured that charging 4 AAA batteries has cost me just over 2 cents. The cost of charging the batteries it is nearly negligible.

The environmental impact of disposable or rechargeable batteries

But, apart from the cost, there is another very important factor that we need to have in consideration. The environmental impact.

According to a publication on The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment: ‘For the impact categories Acidification, Human toxicity (cancer effects), and Particulate matter, an “inefficient” use of the rechargeable devices (for only 20 charge cycles or less) could cause higher impacts than the employment of disposable batteries. 

Additionally, in the same publication it is stated: ‘Moreover, for the Ozone depletion, NiMH batteries are hardly environmentally better than alkaline batteries even with 150 recharges.’

And as conclusions and recommendations, the following it is mentioned in the publication: ‘The number of uses of rechargeable batteries plays a key role on their environmental and energy performances. When compared to disposable batteries, a minimum number of 50 charge cycles permits a robust reduction of the potential impacts for all the analyzed indicators excluding the Ozone depletion. Hence, the use of rechargeable batteries should be mostly encouraged for high consumption devices such as cameras, torches, and electronic toys.’

Well, all in all we come back to the same situation. If you are an individual barely using batteries, it may actually not be environmentally friendly to buy rechargeable batteries.

If you are an individual using a big quantity of batteries because you are into photography, or you have a hobby that requires many batteries, most probably you will be recharging the batteries 50 or more times within a few months. In your case, using rechargeable batteries you would be reducing your impact to our ecology.

And, in the same situation, if you have small children at home and plenty of toys using batteries, from the environmental perspective it makes sense to buy rechargeable batteries.

Conclusion

It seems that the key factor to decide what type of battery is better for you it is the number of times you will be recharging it.

If a rechargeable battery is disposed before going through 50 recharges, the environmental impact is greater than using disposable batteries.

From the money saving perspective, if you are using a significant amounts of batteries per year, or even per month, it is really worth to consider to swap to rechargeable batteries.