Residents can drop off batteries at our recycling facilities free of charge or at a local store for recycling.
The following batteries will be accepted free of charge at our recycling centres:
Used batteries can be taken to any of the following locations:
Residents can also bring their used batteries to any of the Region's Household Hazardous Waste Depots.
Residents should put a piece of electrical (black) tape over the ends of the 9V alkaline batteries and rechargeable batteries with exposed terminals.
Residents are asked to separate alkaline and non-rechargeable batteries before dropping them off.
Once the batteries are collected, they are shipped to Raw Materials Company (a division of International Marine Salvage) in Port Colborne where more than 95 per cent of the battery components are recycled. Recycling these reclaimed materials is approximately 80 per cent more energy efficient than refining these materials from ore.
It is estimated that more than 5,000 tonnes of alkaline batteries are sold in Ontario every year - but only 14 tonnes are currently recycled. Most batteries go to our landfills and contribute about 88 per cent of the total mercury and 50 per cent of the cadmium found in the municipal waste stream.