Battery disposal

Household batteries must be disposed of in battery recycling points in shops and supermarkets, or taken to our Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) and placed in battery disposal points free-of-charge.

Car batteries can be taken to our HWRCs.

If batteries are placed in general waste, they can spark fires in bins, trucks and HWRC skips as they are squashed and damaged.

When this happens, we take emergency action to get the fire put out. Before you place a battery into your bin, please consider that:

• the lives of residents, as well as our crews and members of staff, are put in danger
• roads can be blocked causing traffic problems
• HWRCs need to evacuate and close
• the Fire Service may need to help, stopping them from getting to other incidents
• cleansing teams need to support our crews instead of dealing with other issues
• the cost to the taxpayer

Last updated 20 November 2023