From cell phones and laptop computers to cars, trains, even airplanes, batteries are everywhere. But their life is not unlimited

From cell phones and laptop computers to cars, trains, even airplanes, batteries are everywhere.
    "But their life is not unlimited," says Anand Bhatt from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organization. "We’re gonna have very large volumes of batteries which will end up in landfill. And that’s when the environmental problems will start."
    The most recycled are classic lead-acid car batteries, up to 90 percent.
    While many others are simply thrown away, contaminating soil and water with highly toxic heavy metals, recycling old electronics is a growing business. As demand grows for heavy metals essential for manufacture of lithium-ion batteries, companies such as Neometals from the Australian city of Perth see economic value in collecting and recycling their own rechargeable batteries.
    Chris Reed of Neometals explains, "We are producing the lithium units and then recycling.
    We are taking them back at the end product, unscrambling the egg, recovering the valuables."
    The decline of a rechargeable battery’s capacity is a gradual process. At some point, it can no longer power an energy-intensive device like this electric motorcycle. But it can still be used to store electricity.
    Alternative power enthusiast and owner of an electric scooter Chris Jones says, old rechargeable batteries can still hold as much as 80 percent of their power.
    "These are repurposed lithium-ion batteries from electric scooters. Now I’m going to be using them to power my home, on charging these up with solar panels on the roof of my shed and going to be able to charge my scooter at night."
    As the number of electric vehicles rapidly increases, enthusiasts hope it will not be long before companies start repurposing still active rechargeable batteries before throwing them into the recycle bin.