Family, Alkaline, Lithium, and Additional

Whether or not or not or not you may have single-use alkaline batteries, rechargeable batteries, or one other type of ineffective battery laying spherical your private home, chances are you may be questioning methods to recycle family batteries. Fortuitously, by the use of recycling batteries, there are infinite choices.

Research on for our data to family battery recycling all by means of the U.S., irrespective of the place you reside.

Practically all types of batteries are recyclable. Whereas most municipalities don’t settle for them in curbside recycling, there are pretty numerous retailers and packages all by means of the U.S. — a variety of which is likely to be big-box retailers which can be discovered shut to nearly any metropolis — the place you may drop off batteries to be recycled.

If in case you have acquired a drawer stuffed with ineffective batteries that you simply simply merely’d wish to recycle, we advise using Earth911’s The place to Recycle instrument. There, you may enter what merchandise you’d wish to recycle (merely search “batteries” or the precise form of battery you may have) and your zip code. Earth911 will pull up a list of locations in your space with battery recycling bins.

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

One completely different useful helpful useful resource for locating native battery recycling drop-off elements is Call2Recycle, an organization that has increased than 25,000 drop-off web pages in North America. It is potential you may search for Call2Recycle’s drop-off areas on its web site on-line, and you may presumably uncover the group’s bins in a variety of chain retailers — additional on that beneath.

Before you head to a retailer or occasion, it may most likely’t harm to name forward to substantiate their hours and that they’re nonetheless working their battery recycling program.

The next big-box retailers typically have battery recycling bins, which suggests you may cease by and drop your batteries off to be recycled. Retailers with these packages embrace:

Staples Battery Recycling

Staples retailers settle for the following sorts 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, apart from the “metropolis retailers” in New York Metropolis and Washington, D.C. And should you 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 might be partnered with Call2Recycle, and has bins at increased than 1,700 Lowe’s retailers and distribution companies the place you may drop off rechargeable batteries.

RadioShack Battery Recycling

Completely different RadioShack areas recycle all family batteries (together with single-use alkaline batteries!) by means of Call2Recycle — you may presumably uncover collaborating areas correct proper right here.

Batteries Plus Battery Recycling

Batteries Plus retailers, which is likely to be positioned all all by means of the U.S., have an intensive battery recycling program, which incorporates single-use alkaline batteries.

Additional considerably, you may convey all through the next types of batteries:

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

If these batteries are rechargeable, why do they have to be recycled in the least? Sadly, rechargeable batteries solely remaining quite a lot of years before they die and should be modified. Nonetheless nonetheless, rechargeable batteries are an additional sustainable choice than single-use batteries.

Rechargeable batteries sometimes value additional upfront than single-use batteries — to not degree out, you’ll can buy a battery charger, too. Nonetheless the excellent news is, as shortly as you benefit from the batteries quite a lot of occasions, you’ll make up the upfront value and hopefully lower your payments in the long term.

Since they’re reusable, rechargeable batteries are primary a much more eco-friendly and cost-effective quite a few 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 all through the trash; and in New York Metropolis, it is unlawful to throw rechargeable batteries of any choice all through the trash.

Nonetheless simply because it’s technically authorized to ship batteries to landfill in a variety of locations doesn’t point out we should all the time always. 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 might even overheat and begin a fireplace all through the trash, in accordance with Shopper Analysis.

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

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