Batteries may seem harmless but throwing them away can be dangerous. Lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes, phones, laptops, and toothbrushes often cause fires at recycling centers, landfills, and in garbage trucks. Fires in trucks sometimes force crews to dump waste on the street to prevent the truck from melting.
Despite the "chasing arrows" symbol, batteries should never go in your blue recycling or green garbage cart. They contain valuable minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel that specialty battery recyclers can recover. Use Waste Wizard, Call2Recycle, or Earth911 to find where you can safely dispose of batteries and help recover important materials. All battery retailers in North Carolina are required by law to accept batteries for recycling. Get a few bucks for your lead acid batteries by dropping them off at Wall Recycling or get store rewards at Staples when you recycle e-waste, batteries, and printer cartridges.
Wake County Household Hazardous Waste Facilities accept batteries and other hazardous waste, but the North Wake HHWF is currently closed due to a fire. It just takes a little time and effort to responsibly dispose of your batteries, but it protects workers, the environment, and you.