October 2013
I have a box full of old lithium batteries. I know they're not supposed to be put in the normal trash, but I don't want to pay a fee to have 'hazardous waste' removed. Is there a safe, environmental friendly way for me to dispose of the batteries that won't cost me time and money?
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Home Depot and Lowe's, accept your old rechargeable batteries. Best Buy also does, plus they will accept your discarded electronics too.
Visit your local Lowes store. The ones in my area of the East Coast have a recycling bin near the returns desk that takes CFL's and rechargeable batteries. No muss or fuss, just drop them in!
Home Depot also takes them at the customer service desk. I just box them and mark the box 'Battery Recycling' and there has been no problem.
Many stores (Lowes is one I know of) have bins to drop off various types of used batteries for recycling.
Stores such as WalMart usually have "fishbowls" at the jewelry counter for depositing coin batteries. I would imagine that jewelry stores and hearing aid centers would also have disposal options that may not be limited to themselves or their customers only.
Worse than coin batteries which are used to a lesser extent, D, C, 9V and especially AA and AAA batteries are a bigger problem for disposal. These days, manufacturers are using batteries for power far more than in years past, finding that UL approval is much easier under battery power. And if it's electronic, it has a remote or something wireless and the larger batteries abound.
Some cities have recycling centers. Again, WalMart may have a recycling plan. There are stores that deal only in batteries and they may be able to recycle. Many "big box" stores have recycling available for rechargeable batteries. You just have to ask at places dealing with products that are prone to battery power.
I used to have to walk (I'm carless by choice) a long distance to dispose of batteries and CFL lamps. Now, in the city of Santee, CA, I just take 'em to Home Depo.
