CBC reports that energizer will be using old alkalines to make new aa and aaa batteries with better energy density. Starting at about 4% recycled content now and planning to go up to 40% by 2025.
This is a decent initiative in my opinion however they would do a lot more for the environment (and likely less for their bottom line) if they pushed rechargeables as much as they promote throw aways. Any of the “bricks and mortar” stores I frequent have shelves of alkalines and a very few rechargeables with crappy chargers. So bottom line (again my opinion) - this is mainly window dressing and lip service towards the environment.
if rechargables were as much in demand as alkalines, there would be more of them sold. it is not a conspiracy by battery comapny to sell more alkalines, it is simple supply demand thing.
same way as refilable water bottles, very few buy them and refill, most just buy cases of 24 bottles for 5-6 bucks. and throw bottles away. ridng nyc train you see almost everyone carry a bottle, (not as much in the winter) about 1-2 in 10 are refilable ones.
a something(battery, a bottle…etc) can be the best thing on earth, but if it is inconviniences people enough you wont sell much of it.
One of the huge drawbacks with rechargeable is that everyone in the home has to understand what they are. My wife is forever throwing mine away once they are depleted or putting them in the kids toys that end up then being stored and forgotten about. No matter how many times I tell her to look carefully at any battery before using it or chucking it she always comes up with the “i’m to busy” type of excuses. I think more people are like her than like us.
Just to be clear I don’t figure there is a “conspiracy” to keep rechargeables out of the hands of the public. I do however suspect that the chargers and batteries aren’t near as lucrative for retailers and the manufacturers (as selling single use alkaline) and as with all businesses they will do their best to maximize their bottom line. Unfortunately (and this applies to many sectors) the external costs of throwing away a bunch of batteries after one use doesn’t effect the bottom line of these businesses/manufacturers. In most cases the public pay by way of extra costs including environmental costs - this directly applies to the water bottle example noted above.
I must admit that after making the first post today I had to go to a local (Canadian) hardware/building supply chain for a few bits of plumbing. On the way out I did notice a considerable display dedicated to energizer rechargeables. The size wouldn’t compete with displays given to alkalines however it was decent and in a good area (near the tills).
There are problems with rechargeables no doubt - most due to user issues and a few to the lower voltage. I’m finding that between good rechargeable aa’s and aaa’s (also lion cells but I’m not really counting these in this discussion) and a few lithium primary aa’s I can survive quite well. I would be classed as a “battery nerd” and I suspect if I was gone from the household it wouldn’t be long before all my batteries were discharged and no longer working. I do have quite a few alkalines from years ago and use them when I don’t wish to risk a duraloop but they are gradually leaking while in storage.
One further problem with rechargeables - this is nothing new. It is extremely difficult to locate a good charger for Nimh aa’s and aaa’s in bricks and mortar stores - at any cost. Most if not all the ones I see locally are battery destroyers and so give a bad name to rechargeables when they die after a few uses.