[cauterized]

Where I live, at least, I'd have to make a special trip between 9-5 on a weekday to a battery recycling facility. And when I'm free on a weekday I'm not spending that time schlepping batteries across town. If they included batteries in curbside recycling pickup, you'd get the same high rates you do with paper, plastic, glass, and metal.

[giarc]

There is a Penn and Teller skit where they go to people's home's and ask about curb side recycling. They ask the home owners if they'd be willing to have a x colour bin for y. They continue on and on and on until the home owners have 15 bins out front their house. Although most of the home owners agree to have that many bins, I think their point was to say, we can't have a rainbow of bins out front our homes.

[cauterized]

Then take them with the plastic/metal/glass, which needs to be sorted anyway, and sort out the batteries when you do the rest. IIRC the first 90% of the sorting is done by density anyway, and I'm sure that technique would be pretty effective at separating batteries (very dense) from milk cartons, tin cans, and takeout containers (less so).

[X-Istence]

My family in The Netherlands has 3 bins.

Paper, plastic and other waste, and greens (compost).

They also get charged per pickup, so it is in your best interest to separate as much out as possible/flatten it, and make as little waste as possible in the first place.

[tripzilch]

In NL, this is different per municipality, btw. Although I have heard that where I live, garbage is not separated, it would cost more energy for the separate (garbage pickup, etc) transport chains than it would cost to separate it at the dump site.

Also, regarding batteries, almost all supermarkets (which are generally within walking distance in NL) have a disposal bin for batteries.

[windsurfer]

Ottawa has four: Paper, plastic and glass, compost, and other waste. We also have days for yard clippings, christmas trees, and old mattresses, as well as "give away" days for when something isn't garbage.

[wodenokoto]

in denmark you just put a clear plastic bag of batteries on top of your bin. You really don't accumulate enough batteries to justify a whole bin for each house.