Guide for Reuse, Repair, Recycling, and Safe Disposal
for Alameda County, Contra Costa County, and the City of Palo Alto
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Household Batteries

Batteries - Household - Single-Use

Primary/Single-Use batteries cannot be recharged and must be disposed of once they wear out. Alkaline, lithium, silver oxide, zinc-air, zinc-carbon, and zinc-chloride are all types of primary batteries.

Household Hazardous Waste

This item should never be put in a curbside bin. For more information visit our household hazardous waste page.

Find more information on our Battery Fact Sheet.

Vendors

Vendor Address City Destination Disposal Method Notes
Clean Earth (AERC) (Hayward) 30677 Huntwood Ave Hayward Recycle Mail-in for a Fee Mail-in recycling kit only
Walgreens 730 Market St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Glass Key Photo 1230 Sutter St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off All household-type, laptop, cell phone, and rechargeable batteries accepted. Please tape over lithium battery contacts.
Walgreens 3201 Divisadero St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Oakland Public Library (Downtown Main Library) 125 14th St Oakland Recycle Free Drop-off Tape battery terminals.
Walgreens 135 Powell St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Cole Hardware 70 4th St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off All household-type, laptop, cell phone, and rechargeable batteries accepted. Please tape over lithium battery contacts.
Recology SF Business Haz. Waste Drop-Off (VSQG Program) 501 Tunnel Ave. San Francisco Recycle Drop-off for a Fee Quantity limits and disposal fees apply. You must qualify and make an appointment in advance. San Francisco businesses only.
Alameda County Business Hazardous Waste Drop-in Program (Hayward Facility) 2091 West Winton Avenue Hayward Recycle Drop-off for a Fee Lithium batteries must have terminals insulated
San Francisco Recycling 170 S. Spruce Ave South San Francisco Recycle Pick-up for a Fee
Best Buy Recycling and Trade-in Program (Emeryville) 3700 Mandela Pkwy. Emeryville Recycle Free Drop-off rechargeable batteries, battery backups (UPS), batteries for cellphones, laptops, and button batteries
West County HHW Collection Facility 101 Pittsburg Ave. Richmond Recycle Free Drop-off, Drop-off for a Fee
Pete's Ace Hardware 2569 Castro Valley Blvd. Castro Valley Recycle Free Drop-off No large quantities.
RecycLights 20283 Santa Maria Ave Castro Valley Recycle Free Drop-off Call for details.
Alameda City Hall West 950 W. Mall Square Alameda Recycle Free Drop-off No large quantities.
Walgreens 745 Clement St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Walgreens 1175 Columbus Ave. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off All household-type, laptop, cell phone, and rechargeable batteries accepted. Please tape over lithium battery contacts.
Walgreens 33 Drumm St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Oakland Public Library (African American Museum & Library) 659 14th St Oakland Recycle Free Drop-off Tape battery terminals.
Walgreens 1363 Divisadero St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off

Curbside Service

Special Action Note
Alameda
Residents may drop off household batteries (A, AA, AAA, C, D and 9-volt) at the ACI Alameda office or package in a sealed, clear plastic bag and place on top of the recyclable materials cart. (No car batteries allowed.)
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Albany
Put batteries in a clear plastic bag, seal it shut and place on the top of the recyclables cart.
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Berkeley
Castro Valley Sanitary District
Single-family and multi-family residents with blue recycling cart service may participate in CVSan’s curbside battery recycling program by placing used dry cell batteries (household batteries such as AAA, AA, B, C, D, 9V, and small “button” batteries) in a sealed clear plastic bag on top of your blue recycling cart on your service day. No automotive, lithium-ion or liquid batteries are accepted. Please tape terminals on 9-volt batteries.
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Dublin
Single Family Residents. Place used batteries on top of your recycle cart in a clear plastic bag.
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Emeryville
Emeryville accepts this item for curbside pickup, but don't put them in your carts or bins. Cart customers: place in sealed, zip bag taped to lid of recycling cart. Emeryville bin customers call to order mail-back collection container: 510-613-8710.
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Fremont
Hayward
Single Family Service - Household batteries can be put into a sealed clear bag & placed next to the Recycling cart on collection day. Please tape over lithium battery contacts.
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Hayward (Oro Loma - L2)
Single Family Service - Place in zip loc bag on top of recycling cart
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Livermore
Single Family Service - Household batteries can be put into a sealed clear bag & placed on top of the Recycling cart on collection day. Please tape over lithium battery contacts.
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Newark
Single Family Service - Place in zip loc bag on top of recycling cart
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Oakland
Residents. Put household dry-cell batteries in a clear, sealed bag on top of recycling cart by 6am on your regular recycling pickup date. Always tape ends of batteries to avoid contact. Bag button-cell and NiCd batteries in a bag separate from alkaline batteries. Do not include rechargeable batteries.
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Piedmont
Place in Ziploc bag on top of the recycling cart. Also accepted at the Piedmont Fire Station for recycling.
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Pleasanton
Single Family Service - Place in zip loc bag on top of recycling cart
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San Leandro
Bag batteries in clear bag and put on top of Recycling cart.
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San Leandro (Oro Loma - L3)
Single Family Service - Place in zip loc bag on top of recycling cart
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San Lorenzo (Oro Loma)
Single Family Service - Place in zip loc bag on top of recycling cart
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Unincorporated Oro Loma (L1)
Single Family Service - Place in zip loc bag on top of recycling cart
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Union City
Single Family & Parcelized Multifamily Dwellings: Put in clear, sealed bag next to recycling cart.
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