Batteries have not gone up much in price in recent years
, but that may not be the case forever. Environmental concerns have closed a lot of lead mines, and lead is used in manufacturing the plates in batteries. Only one very expensive brand still uses virgin lead, while the others use mostly recycled lead, one reason it is so important to return used batteries. Regardless of how dedicated you are to recycling in general, recycling batteries is mandatory to help keep the cost down.