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.

Use the Call2Recycle Battery Drop-off Location Finder for single-use, rechargeable, e-bike, and high energy batteries and cellphones.

Find more information on our Battery Fact Sheet.

Vendors

Vendor Address City Destination Disposal Method Notes
Alameda County Business Hazardous Waste Drop-in Program (Oakland Facility) 2100 East 7th Street Oakland Recycle Drop-off for a Fee Lithium batteries must have terminals insulated
Walgreens 499 Haight St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Walgreens 2550 Ocean Ave. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Walgreens 2690 Mission St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Walgreens 135 Powell St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
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.
Battery Solutions 618 E Auto Center Dr
STE 111
Mesa Recycle Mail-in for a Fee
Cole Hardware, Vallejo St. 627 Vallejo St San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off All household-type, laptop, cell phone, and rechargeable batteries accepted. Please tape over lithium battery contacts.
Staples (SF - California St) 300 California St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Sports Basement (San Ramon) 1041 Market Place San Ramon Recycle Free Drop-off No lithium 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 City Hall 2263 Santa Clara Ave Alameda Recycle Free Drop-off No large quantities.
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.
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
Walgreens 500 Geary St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Walgreens 5260 Diamond Heights Blvd. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Walgreens 275 Sacramento St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Walgreens 1363 Divisadero St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Roberts Hardware 1629 Haight St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off All household-type, laptop, cell phone, and rechargeable batteries accepted. Please tape over lithium battery contacts.
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.

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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RE:Source is an online directory for reuse, repair and proper disposal options for the California East Bay area and Palo Alto. Our goal is to connect you with the best options for what you need to get rid of or repair. Please note that we do not accept any items directly.

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