Energizer makes high-performance batteries from your recycled cells

Here's something different: disposable batteries that could help reduce the mountains of e-waste that people create every day. Energizer has unveiled EcoAdvanced, the first high-performance alkaline battery to be made partly from recycled cells. About 4 percent of the new power pack comes from old batteries turned into an "active ingredient" (Energizer is keeping this hush-hush), giving you a long-lasting energy source without having to lean quite so much on fresh material.

No, that's not hugely efficient, but it could add up. Energizer believes that EcoAdvanced should reduce the amount of mining it needs, and the move might give you a stronger incentive to recycle batteries that you'd otherwise be tempted to throw away. More importantly, the process should become much more efficient in the next decade. Energizer hopes that its batteries will use 40 percent recycled material by 2025, which could go a long way toward reducing your environmental impact in those situations where rechargeable batteries just aren't an option.