Just Where in NY Can You Dispose of Unwanted Household Batteries?

So you have made the change to recyclable batteries, but you still have a few of the "Alkaline" batteries laying around the house. Maybe they came out of the smoke detector, the kids toys or even any number of the remote controls in the house? Ok, but what do you do with them? Can they be recycled? Can you just toss them in the trash?

After wondering myself and then being asked by a coworker, I dug a little deeper. What can you do with them? Then I remembered (Pre-Covid) or as I refer to it, B. C. Before Covid, I recalled seeing a drop bin near the customer service area of Home Depot.

So when I went to HomeDepot.com to see if they were still doing this, knowing that so many things have changed in the last year, I figured I would just check it out first before driving there with my stash of AA's and AAA's.

Here is what their website said about these alkaline batteries:

They are usually non-hazardous and can simply be tossed into a regular trash can, except in California. However, since they still have power in them it’s best to follow a few precautions before you throw them out:

*Collect used batteries in a container that won’t cause a spark such as a cardboard box or plastic tub.
*Prevent any fire risk by taping 9-volt terminals before tossing.

The company Call2Recycle.org, had to say about what to do with these batteries that most homes have at least 20 of:

Single-use batteries, such as AA, AAA, 9V or C or D cell, are by nature different, making their recycling process different than recycling rechargeable and cellphone batteries. All Call2Recycle drop-off locations accept used rechargeable batteries with most accepting used cellphones. Depending upon your location, select drop-off sites do accept single-use batteries.

If you are looking for a place to recycle rechargeable batteries, Call2Recycle.org has a drop-off locator on their website so you don't have to purchase one of their recycling kits. Here is a link to the locator, click here. When I searched the locator, there were zero places in the Kingston area that were currently accepting the alkaline or single-use type batteries.

Have you made the switch to the recyclable kind?