Family, Alkaline, Lithium, and Extra

Whether or not or not or not you might need single-use alkaline batteries, rechargeable batteries, or one other type of ineffective battery laying spherical your particular person home, chances are high excessive you may be questioning methods to recycle family batteries. Fortuitously, in terms of recycling batteries, there are infinite choices.

Be taught on for our knowledge to family battery recycling all by way of the U.S., whatever the place you reside.

Almost all types of batteries are recyclable. Whereas most municipalities don’t settle for them in curbside recycling, there are pretty quite a few retailers and packages all by way of the U.S. — quite a lot of that are big-box retailers which can be discovered shut to simply about any metropolis — the place you possibly can drop off batteries to be recycled.

If in case you could have a drawer filled with ineffective batteries that you just simply merely’d favor to recycle, we advise using Earth911’s The place to Recycle instrument. There, you possibly can enter what merchandise you’d favor to recycle (merely search “batteries” or the precise sort of battery you might need) and your zip code. Earth911 will pull up an inventory of locations in your space with battery recycling bins.

Most of those areas will maybe be retailers, nonetheless fully totally different choices could embrace recycling providers, secure drop-off occasions held by your municipality, or mail-in packages.

One totally different useful helpful useful resource for locating native battery recycling drop-off elements is Call2Recycle, a corporation that has bigger than 25,000 drop-off internet sites in North America. You would possibly look for Call2Recycle’s drop-off areas on its website, and you could uncover the group’s bins in quite a lot of chain retailers — further on that beneath.

Earlier than you head to a retailer or occasion, it would in all probability’t harm to name forward to substantiate their hours and that they’re nonetheless working their battery recycling program.

The following big-box retailers usually have battery recycling bins, which suggests you possibly can cease by and drop your batteries off to be recycled. Shops with these packages embrace:

Staples Battery Recycling

Staples retailers settle for the next varieties of batteries for recycling:

• Lithium ion (Li-Ion)
• Nickel metallic hydride (Ni-MH)
• Nickel zinc (Ni-ZN)
• Non-rechargeable lithium NEW
• Rechargeable nickel cadmium (Ni-Cd)
• Single-use alkaline NEW
• Small sealed lead acid (SSLA/Pb).

This recycling program is in all Staples retailers, aside from the “metropolis retailers” in New York Metropolis and Washington, D.C. And do you need to usher in outdated batteries, Staples will give you a coupon in change.

Staples beforehand didn’t settle for single-use alkaline batteries for recycling, nonetheless in March 2024, the corporate expanded its free in-store recycling program to incorporate single-use alkaline and non-rechargeable lithium batteries.

Lowe’s Battery Recycling

Lowe’s could be partnered with Call2Recycle, and has bins at bigger than 1,700 Lowe’s retailers and distribution providers the place you possibly can drop off rechargeable batteries.

RadioShack Battery Recycling

Numerous RadioShack areas recycle all family batteries (together with single-use alkaline batteries!) by the use of Call2Recycle — you could uncover collaborating areas correct proper right here.

Batteries Plus Battery Recycling

Batteries Plus retailers, that are positioned all all by way of the U.S., have an intensive battery recycling program, which incorporates single-use alkaline batteries.

Extra notably, you possibly can convey inside the next kinds of batteries:

• Lead Acid
• Nickel Cadmium
• Nickel Steel Hydride
• Lithium Ion & Polymer
• Family
• Specialty.

If these batteries are rechargeable, why do they have to be recycled in the slightest degree? Sadly, rechargeable batteries solely closing various years ahead of they die and should be modified. Nonetheless nonetheless, rechargeable batteries are a further sustainable choice than single-use batteries.

Rechargeable batteries usually price further upfront than single-use batteries — to not degree out, you’ll can purchase a battery charger, too. Nonetheless the excellent news is, as shortly as you take advantage of the batteries various occasions, you’ll make up the upfront price and hopefully lower your payments in the long term.

Since they’re reusable, rechargeable batteries are regular a much more eco-friendly and cost-effective diversified to single-use batteries. Not solely that, nonetheless as shortly as they die, they’re simpler to recycle than single-use alkaline batteries.

It’s unlawful in California to throw single-use alkaline batteries contained in the trash; and in New York Metropolis, it is unlawful to throw rechargeable batteries of any choice contained in the trash.

Nonetheless simply because it’s technically accredited to ship batteries to landfill in quite a lot of locations doesn’t point out we must always at all times on a regular basis. Whereas battery disposal is a controversial matter, there’s proof that batteries can leach poisonous chemical substances and air air pollution into groundwater from the landfill, and that they could even overheat and begin a hearth contained in the trash, in accordance with Shopper Analysis.

Principally, batteries are terribly recyclable — and there are pretty quite a few drop-off elements all by way of the nation — so for many individuals, there’s actually no excuse to not recycle batteries.

This textual content material, initially printed on May 1, 2020, has been up to date.