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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G Mazzei & Son Hardware | 5166 3rd St. | San Francisco | Recycle | Free Drop-off | All household-type, laptop, cell phone, and rechargeable batteries accepted. Please tape over lithium battery contacts. | |
| Oakland Public Library (Lakeview Branch) | 550 El Embarcadero | Oakland | Recycle | Free Drop-off | Tape battery terminals. | |
| Best Buy Recycling and Trade-in Program (Union City) | 31350 Courthouse Dr. | Union City | Recycle | Free Drop-off | rechargeable batteries, battery backups (UPS), batteries for cellphones, laptops, and button batteries | |
| Cirba Solutions (Mark Steadman) | Recycle | Mail-in for a Fee | Sells We Recycle Kits to collect and mail back batteries. | |||
| City of Palo Alto Household Hazardous Waste Station Program | 2501 Embarcadero Way | Palo Alto | Recycle | Free Drop-off | Only 15 gallons or 125 pounds of hazardous waste per visit. Must be a Palo Alto resident, proof of residency is required. | |
| Alameda County Household Hazardous Waste Program (Hayward Facility) | 2091 West Winton Avenue | Hayward | Recycle | Free Drop-off | Note: Swollen Li-ion batteries accepted. If it’s leaking, contact hhw@acgov.org. | |
| Retriev Technologies | 265 Quary Rd SE | Lancaster | Recycle | Mail-in for a Fee | Big Green Box Program for Alkaline, Nickel Cadmium, Nickel-Metal Hydride, Lead Acid, Lithium Ion and Primary Lithium for corporations, consumers, schools, government agencies and anyone. | |
| SMaRT Station | 301 Carl Rd | Sunnyvale | Recycle | Free Drop-off | Please note that the SMaRT Station serves Mountain View and Sunnyvale residents only. | |
| Lighting Resources Recyclers (EZ on the Earth) | 400 N Forsythe St | Franklin | Recycle | Mail-in for a Fee | ||
| Walgreens | 499 Haight St. | San Francisco | Recycle | Free Drop-off | ||
| Alameda County Business Hazardous Waste Program (Livermore Facility) | 5584 La Ribera Street | Livermore | Recycle | Drop-off for a Fee | Lithium batteries must have terminals insulated (taped) | |
| Walgreens | 2550 Ocean Ave. | San Francisco | Recycle | Free Drop-off | ||
| Universal Electric Service | 1551 Clement St. | San Francisco | Recycle | Free Drop-off | All household-type, laptop, cell phone, and rechargeable batteries accepted. Please tape over lithium battery contacts. | |
| Golden City Building Supply | 1279 Pacific Ave. | San Francisco | Recycle | Free Drop-off | Household batteries can be put into a clear plastic bag & placed on top of black cart on collection day. Please tape over lithium battery contacts. | |
| Oakland Public Library (Montclair Branch) | 1687 Mountain Blvd | Oakland | Recycle | Free Drop-off | Tape battery terminals. | |
| Best Buy Recycling and Trade-in Program (Hayward) | 269 Southland Mall | Hayward | Recycle | Free Drop-off | rechargeable batteries, battery backups (UPS), batteries for cellphones, laptops, and button batteries | |
| Battery Recyclers of America | Recycle | Mail-in for a Fee | Battery types you can recycle: alkaline, nickel cadmium, lithium & lithium-ion, nickel metal hydride, iron, zinc carbon, silver zinc. Battery chemistries are those found in remotes, devices, power tools, laptops, cell phones, rechargeable controllers, watches, vehicle remotes, etc. Bucket kits (20-50 lbs) - https://www.batteryrecyclersofamerica.com/buckets/ | |||
| Grand Lake Ace Hardware | 1221 Grand Ave. | Piedmont | Recycle | Free Drop-off | All household-type, laptop, cell phone, and rechargeable batteries accepted. Please tape over lithium battery contacts. | |
| Alameda Free Library | 1550 Oak St | Alameda | Recycle | Free Drop-off | ||
| West County HHW Collection Facility | 101 Pittsburg Ave. | Richmond | Recycle | Free Drop-off, Drop-off for a Fee |
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. ### |
