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Battery Disposal

AA, AAA, C, D and 9-volt alkaline batteries may be discarded with your household trash.

Standard alkaline batteries are not considered hazardous waste, since they no longer contain mercury. Place batteries with your regular trash, not in your recycling bin.

In the 1990s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identified batteries as the largest source of mercury in municipal solid waste streams. If not properly handled, mercury exposure can be hazardous to human health and the environment. As the result of legislation and public pressure, the battery industry has removed mercury from virtually all household batteries.


Automotive and marine batteries may be taken to the Recycling Center for disposal.

NYS has a new Rechargeable Battery Disposal Ban

Beginning December 5, 2011, no person shall knowingly dispose of rechargeable batteries as solid waste at any time in the state. ( NYS ECL ยง 27-1805)

The law requires businesses who sell rechargeable batteries to collect and recycle the batteries statewide in a manufacturer-funded program at no cost to consumers.

Most rechargeable batteries contain toxic metals that can be released into the environment when improperly disposed. These batteries should NOT be placed in household trash. Residents should utilize the program created by this law and return them to a retailer OR bring them the Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Facility at the Recycling Center.

Retailers shall take up to ten such batteries per day from any person regardless of whether such person purchases replacement batteries, and retailers shall also accept as many batteries as a consumer purchases from the retailer. Retailers shall post and maintain, at or near the point of entry to the place of business, a sign, stating that used rechargeable batteries of the size and shape sold or offered for sale by the retailer may not enter the solid waste stream, and that the retail establishment is a collection site for recycling such batteries.

Which types of rechargeable batteries are covered by the new law?

  • Nickel-cadmium * Sealed lead * Lithium ion * Nickel metal hydride
  • Any other such dry cell battery capable of being recharged
  • Battery packs containing any of the above-mentioned batteries

For more information call the NYSDEC at 518-402-8706.