MIDLAND, Mich., June 4, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- On May 10, 2007, the State Board of the Michigan Hearing Aid Society approved an environmental program, to reduce and hopefully eliminate hearing aid batteries, which contain mercury, from reaching landfills in Michigan. It is believed to be the first plan of its type in the U.S. The initiative was announced by Ed Deneau, president of the Society, which represents hearing aid dispensers statewide.
The voluntary program enables ecologically concerned hearing aid wearers to bring their used zinc-air batteries to any member's location for proper disposal free of charge. This may be done regardless of where the batteries or hearing aids were purchased. A directory of member's offices by city is available at the Society's website www.mihas.org. There are no Federal or Michigan laws that cover the disposal of the toxic hearing aid batteries.
Over 90,000 hearing aids are dispensed annually in Michigan through both public and private facilities. The average useful life of a hearing aid battery is about 2 weeks. The environmentally poisonous hearing aid batteries usually become a part of household trash because of their small size and the lack of awareness about the toxic effect they have on the environment.
Ed Deneau, president of the Michigan Hearing Aid Society, said, "It's a travesty that hearing aids, which are vital for many people and allow them to participate fully within our society, end up being a problem. In any given five-year period, those 90,000 hearing aids can account for upwards of 11 million used toxic hearing aid batteries which can contaminate Michigan's environment. It is impossible to gauge how many toxic hearing aid batteries have been disposed of in Michigan in the past."
Fellow board members Richard Benson, James Yuhas and Harry Thurkow concurred with the assessment of the disposal problem. They indicated that because hearing aid dispensers are the initiators of hearing aid battery usage it is incumbent upon them to be a part of the solution. "Sometimes private industry has to take the initiative to correct a problem. We can't expect government to legislate proper behavior," added Deneau. "Think global, act local," added another board member.
Alternative to disposable hearing aid batteries are rechargeable hearing aid batteries. Few people even know of their existence. Rechargeable cells are nickel metal hydride compared to the zinc-air chemistry of disposables and can be recharged 300-400 times over their useful life of about two years. A package of 4 rechargeables costs less than $20.00. Many hearing aids presently in use can use rechargeable batteries. Several hearing aid manufacturers presently manufacture hearing aids that contain rechargeable batteries. In a perfectly green world, all batteries would be rechargeable and recycled.