Recycling Batteries

Many old batteries end up in landfill, where they can leak harmful chemicals into the soil. You can help tackle this problem by recycling your batteries.

Where to recycle household batteries

From February 2010 all shops that sell large amounts of household batteries must provide a collection bin for used batteries. You may also be able to put old batteries in your regular household recycling bins, or take them to a waste and recycling centre.

Car batteries should also be taken to a waste and recycling centre. Some shops that sell car batteries also accept old batteries for recycling. Check when you buy a new car battery to see if the shop will recycle your old battery for you.

Look out for the Be Positive signs in shop windows and in stores to find these collection points.

Several local councils provide bins at local waste and recycling centres. Check with your local council to find out what battery recycling choices are available in your area.

If you want to report a shop for not having a battery recycling bin you can contact the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) who police the scheme.

Contact your local council (contacts section)

Types of household battery you can recycle

Many of the items you regularly use at home will be run on batteries. Batteries from all of the following items, and many others, can be recycled:

mobile phones
laptops
hearing aids
watches
portable cameras
cordless power tools
torches
electric toothbrushes
razors
hand-held vacuum cleaners

Why recycle household batteries?

Some household batteries contain chemicals like lead, mercury or cadmium. If batteries are thrown into your normal rubbish bin, they are likely to end up in landfill. Once buried, the batteries start to break down and can leak some of these chemicals into the ground. This can cause soil and water pollution, which may be a health risk for humans.

Recycling stops batteries going to landfill and helps recover thousands of tonnes of metals, including valuable metals like nickel, cobalt and silver. This reduces the need to mine new materials, cutting CO2 emissions and saving resources.

How to recycle car batteries

Car batteries are treated as hazardous waste. They must not be thrown away with your household waste. They can be recycled at garages, scrap metal facilities and many local waste and recycling centres.

There is a helpful postcode finder which you can use to check where you can recycle car batteries, and all other types of waste on the RethinkWaste website.

Disposing of electrical and electronic equipment

Many of the items which use portable batteries can also be recycled. You can recycle these, and other old electronic and electrical equipment, like TVs, fridges and computers at your local waste and recycling centre.