In 2001, around 500,000,000 batteries were bought in California. Of these, approximately 497,000,000 were not recycled, according to the Household Universal Waste Generation in California report. It is illegal to throw batteries in the trash in California, as the chemicals in batteries, especially lead, leek out and contaminate our soil and drinking water when placed in landfills. Fortunately, California has made significant strides in this area in the past decade, and now we have a solid network of places that accept batteries for recycling. That’s it for the side salad of background information. Here is the meat and potatoes. As usual, thanks for recycling.

Bay Area

GreenCitizen – Yep, we accept batteries. Bring ‘em in to our Berkeley, San Francisco, or Palo Alto locations, along with any electronics you would like to recycle (we do not accept batteries at our Burlingame location).

Additionally, the following national businesses accept batteries for recycling in the Bay Area.

• Lowes
• Best Buy
• Home Depot
• Staples
• OSH
• Radio Shack
• Some Apple stores
• Some Ace Hardware stores

Outside the Bay

For readers outside the Bay Area, a helpful resource is the Environment, Health, and Safety Online website. They have a special page for batteries where you can look at an interactive map of battery recycling sites near you. The EHSO website has a wealth of information on for consumers, though it can be somewhat difficult to navigate.

You can also search for more battery recycling centers in our very own Green Directory, a nationwide search engine for recycling virtually any time across the United States.

Written by GreenCitizen staff writer Jake Hanft. Please contact him at jake.hanft@greencitizen.com with questions.