How to dispose of lithium-ion batteries safely — and why they can't go in the trash

Why one battery in a truck is a $2.5 billion problem

A lithium-ion cell doesn't need to be faulty to be dangerous. It needs to be crushed — which is exactly what happens to everything that goes into a collection truck. Crushing punctures the cell, which triggers thermal runaway: a self-sustaining reaction that can reach several hundred degrees in seconds, can't be smothered, and reignites after it appears to be out.

The numbers have gotten sharply worse. Fires at US and Canadian waste and recycling facilities hit 448 in 2025, with over $2.5 billion in damage. January and February 2026 alone saw 56 reported fires — the highest February total since tracking began in 2016.

The cause isn't industrial. Regulators consistently point at consumer products — e-bikes, scooters, power tools and vaping devices. Collection systems were designed around alkaline AAs, not high-energy packs, and batteries now arrive in the waste stream in volumes nobody planned for: damaged, hidden inside devices, and unstable.

Which is the practical point for you. A single taped battery dropped at a hardware store takes ninety seconds. The same battery in your recycling bin is a coin flip on somebody's truck.

What actually has a lithium-ion battery in it

This is where most people get caught out — the battery is usually sealed inside something you don't think of as "a battery" at all:

• Disposable vapes — the single most-overlooked item on this list. Every one contains a lithium cell, and they're thrown in household bins by the million.
• Cordless power tools — drills, saws, and their spare battery packs
• E-bikes, e-scooters and hoverboards — the largest consumer packs in most homes
• Phones, tablets and laptops — including anything with a swollen back or a lifted screen
• Cordless vacuums and robot vacuums
• Bluetooth speakers, earbuds and headphones — earbud cases too
• Portable chargers and power banks
• Battery-powered lawn equipment — mowers, trimmers, blowers
• Drones, RC toys and many children's toys
• Electric toothbrushes, shavers, hearing aids

Rule of thumb: if it recharges and has no cord permanently attached, assume lithium. If you can't get the battery out of the device, recycle the whole device as e-waste rather than forcing it — puncturing a cell during removal is one of the more common ways people start a fire at home.

Is it actually illegal where you live?

Mostly, no — and that is the point worth understanding. Almost nowhere bans lithium-ion batteries from household trash by law. Minnesota is the rare exception: it has kept rechargeable batteries, lithium-ion included, out of the trash since 1991. New Hampshire has banned them from landfills and incinerators since July 1, 2025. The reason to keep them out is not a statute; it is that a crushed cell starts fires in trucks and sorting facilities, and the bill for that lands on everyone.

A small number of states are beginning to legislate. North Carolina adds lithium-ion batteries to its statutory landfill ban on December 1, 2026, extending a rule that has covered lead-acid batteries for years. Lead-acid is already banned from landfills in forty of the fifty states we cover (all but Maryland, Alabama, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Nevada, Delaware, South Dakota, Wyoming and Alaska), and stores that sell car batteries generally take your old one back when you buy a new one.

Do not wait for your state to ban it. The fire risk is identical whether or not there is a law, and so is the outcome if a cell ignites in the back of a collection truck on your street.

The right way to do it, in four steps

1. Keep it out of every curbside bin. Trash and recycling. The recycling bin feels responsible and is arguably worse — material recovery facilities are full of exactly the sorting and compaction equipment a cell will ignite.
2. Tape both terminals. Clear packing tape or electrical tape over the contacts. Loose cells touching metal are the leading cause of collection-truck fires, and this one step removes most of the risk. It is not optional, and it matters most for the batteries people treat most casually — button cells, 9-volts and loose 18650s.
3. Bag each battery separately. One per clear plastic bag, so cells can't contact each other on the drive over.
4. Drop it somewhere that takes it. Free options are genuinely everywhere — see below.

Where to drop off, free

The national network. Call2Recycle — now operating as The Battery Network — runs over 30,000 drop-off points and takes rechargeable batteries under 11 lb free. The bins live at the front of stores you're already driving past: Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy and Staples. For most household batteries this is the whole answer, and it costs nothing. Find the nearest bin with The Battery Network's drop-off locator.

County household hazardous waste facilities take them too, and are the right call for anything oversized, unusual or damaged. Your own county facility is the right call for anything oversized, unusual or damaged — and it is almost always free for residents. Some run permanent collections with regular hours, others only on scheduled event days a few times a year, so check which yours is before you set off.

To find the closest one, type your city or ZIP into the finder below, or tap Use my location. It lists the nearest drop-off sites and links each one to its city page, with hours, fees and what it takes.

Car batteries are a different thing entirely. A lead-acid car battery isn't lithium, is banned from landfills in forty of the fifty states we cover, and any auto parts retailer takes it free — usually with a core credit back. Our general battery disposal guide covers those.

Big lithium batteries: boat, RV, solar and deep-cycle

The 12-volt lithium batteries sold for boats, trolling motors, RVs, golf carts and solar setups (often labeled LiFePO4, or lithium iron phosphate) are a different animal from a phone or drill battery. A typical 12-volt, 100-amp-hour pack weighs 20 pounds or more and stores about 1,280 watt-hours of energy (12.8 volts times 100 amp-hours), several times more than a cordless tool battery. Portable power stations, e-bike packs and electric mower batteries fall in the same group.

The store drop-off bin usually won't take them. The Battery Network calls these “medium-format” batteries and says plainly that they aren't accepted everywhere. Its program for batteries over 300 watt-hours runs only through trained sites, for batteries from participating brands. So don't just drop one in the collection box at the front of the store.

What to do instead, in this order:

1. Call the battery's manufacturer. That's The Battery Network's own first advice for medium-format batteries. Many brands work with a recycling partner and will tell you where to take it. The phone number is usually on the battery label or the brand's website.
2. Call your nearest Batteries Plus. The national chain, with stores in every state, lists lithium-ion among the batteries it recycles. Each store sets its own fee under state and local rules, so call ahead: ask whether it takes a large lithium battery and what it costs. Find the closest one with the Batteries Plus store locator.
3. Call your county or city household hazardous waste program. Ask specifically about a large lithium battery, since some collection days take only small household batteries. Our city pages list each program's hours and rules.

Don't take it to the auto parts store or the landfill. The free core trade-in at auto parts stores is for lead-acid car batteries, not lithium, and landfills and transfer stations don't want lithium batteries in a load.

If it ever swelled or bulged, treat it as damaged, even if it still works. Tape the terminals, keep it outside the house away from anything that can burn, and follow the damaged-battery steps above. Damaged lithium batteries can't go in a retail bin and must not be mailed.

What about my electric car battery?

Short version: you don't handle it. An EV traction pack weighs over 1,000 lb, carries several hundred volts, and is removed by trained technicians with insulated tools. There is no consumer-facing version of this job, and no county convenience center will take one.

In practice an end-of-life EV pack moves along one of three routes: back through the dealer (most replacements happen under warranty, and the old pack goes to the manufacturer), through the manufacturer's takeback program, or through one of the roughly 9,000 licensed auto dismantlers in the US, who are increasingly trained and equipped to pull and ship packs safely. From there it goes to an industrial recycler for material recovery — lithium, nickel and cobalt.

Direct-to-consumer options are just starting to appear. Redwood Materials launched an EV and hybrid battery recycling program with Ford and Volvo — but it began in California and isn't nationwide yet, so it won't help you in Texas, Florida or North Carolina today. The sector is also unsettled: Li-Cycle, one of the largest North American recyclers, went through bankruptcy and was acquired by Glencore.

So if your EV or hybrid needs a new pack: your dealer is the answer, and the old one is already accounted for. If you're scrapping the whole vehicle, a licensed dismantler handles the pack as part of the job. Neither is something to solve yourself — which is precisely why the small batteries deserve the attention instead.