Batteries

Batteries should not go into your rubbish or recycling bin at home. Batteries are difficult products to recycle because they are made from so many different materials and they are hazardous as well.

You can take used batteries to be recycled at most large shops or one of our reuse and recycling centres. In fact, any shop selling more than 32kg of batteries a year (around 345 x four-packs of AA batteries each year) have to provide battery recycling collection in-store.

You can bring:

• All household batteries including 'button' batteries from watches.
• Battery packs from laptops, mobile phones, power tools and remote control units - these are called 'lithium batteries'. But please put these in a plastic bag before putting into a battery recycling bin because they cause fire risk when mixed with other battery types.
• Leaky or spoiled batteries, as long as they are in a sealed plastic bag so no liquid can get out. However, if you have a damaged lithium battery, please put it in a sealed container and bring to one of our reuse and recycling centres where we will handle it safely.
• Car batteries can also be recycled but only at designated collection points, not in your home recycling.

Find your nearest battery recycling point using the form below, or by visiting the Recycle Now website (opens in a new window).

Reduce waste and save money!

You can reduce waste by using rechargeable batteries and/or plugging electrical equipment into the mains electricity when at home. Or consider using appliances that use renewable energy - a wind-up radio or torch, dynamo bicycle lights, or a solar-powered calculator.

Free battery collections for businesses

If you are a business or organisation is based in the UK, you can have a free battery collection service! The scheme is run by compliance schemes, working in partnership with waste management companies. Just go to Valpak battery box request and complete the form.