Looking for a Better Back-Up Power Solution?

ThisIsFred asks: "I maintain a small network (about 1500 users, 9 servers in four locations), and happen to be in an area where the power company's quality of service could be better. Reliability has been slowly improving over the past few years, but we still experience dozens of outages during the course of the year. Unfortunately, all of our un-interruptible power supplies give in after about two years of service, regardless of the brand I buy. I have stacks of lead-acid batteries waiting to get hauled away by a subcontractor licensed to dispose of hazardous materials. This is an expensive service, my employer doesn't want to allocate funds for it every two years. I don't like having to give up space for the storage of dead batteries, and I don't like wasting my time replacing them. Should my employer be responsible for the disposal fees? Shouldn't vendors selling new UPS units be legally required to take back old batteries, like with auto batteries? And what sort of solution should I be looking at that is lower maintenance? Currently I am using smaller, standalone units (1400 VA), because it is really hard for me to secure the funds for something more expensive. I'd like to see what other folks do. I trust examples based on Slashdot's real experience more than some vendor's sales pitch. I need to put together a good argument for the next budget review."

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[R2.0]

1: Have you looked into refurbishing the batteries? Type "Battery Desulphation" into Google, and you migh find some ways to re-use the batteries you got.

2: Hazardous waste disposal fees? Bullshit. Batteries are chock full of recyclable lead, and should NEVER be "disposed of" except to make new batteries. Look up "recycling, batteries" in your local yellow pages, and I think you may have some luck. Definitely think local on this - shipping any distance will kill you.

3: Having dismissed the whole "hazardous waste" thing above, I will now state that batteries are indeed hazardous. Or at least not something you want just sitting around. Your boss is being foolish if he thinks that by "not budgeting" for disposal, that makes the issue go away. Batteries can leak acid and give off explosive hydrogen. If something bad happens, your Boss will like paying the cost of that problem even less than your current problem.