Damaged, swollen or recalled batteries

Last verified 2026-09-30

If a device is smoking or emitting flames, this is not a disposal question. NSW Government advice is to follow Fire and Rescue NSW’s advice, and to call Triple Zero (000) immediately if you are injured or need urgent medical assistance. Do that first and read the rest later.

Everything on this page is guidance from the people who set it: the national battery scheme, the NSW EPA, and NSW Government electrical safety. Where they’re specific, we’ve kept their wording.

How to tell a battery has gone bad

NSW Government advice is to stop using a lithium-ion battery immediately if it shows any of these:

• swelling or bulging, leaking, cracks, dents, punctures, or crushing
• overheating
• releasing vapours or smoke
• it has gotten wet or has been in water
• it has been exposed to fire

If none of that applies and the battery is just flat, you’re on the wrong page. A flat battery takes the ordinary drop-off route, which means a shop or council collection point.

What not to do with it

• Don’t charge it, and don’t keep using it. That’s the NSW Government’s instruction.
• Don’t put it in a kerbside bin. NSW Government advice is explicit: never throw a damaged battery in your regular home waste bin, recycling bin or kerbside bin, because it could start a fire.
• Don’t put it in a shop collection bin. B-cycle’s own guidance is that badly damaged, swollen or bulging batteries should not be brought to a B-cycle drop-off point.

Where it can actually go

The official guidance splits on how bad it is, and the split matters.

Leaking, but not swollen or physically damaged. B-cycle’s instruction is to put leaking batteries in a ziplock bag and take them to a B-cycle drop-off point as normal.

Badly damaged, swollen or bulging. B-cycle’s instruction is to put the battery in a fireproof container or fire blanket and take it to a council depot or transfer station, not a retail drop-off point. Elsewhere B-cycle describes the same thing as a fire-resistant container such as a glass jar that isn’t airtight, and asks people to contact their local council or transfer station to find out whether it can be taken there.

In NSW, that means a Community Recycling Centre or a Household Chemical CleanOut event. Community Recycling Centres take household problem wastes free of charge, and CleanOut events are the EPA’s mobile collection service. Contact the centre first to check it can take the battery: B-cycle asks people to check with their council or transfer station, and the EPA asks people to phone about unusual items.

If nobody can tell you where it goes, the NSW Government’s own instruction for a damaged or faulty battery is to contact either a B-cycle accredited battery collector or the NSW EPA Environment Line on 131 500.

Where to keep it until you can take it

The NSW Government’s instruction for a damaged battery is specific:

Keep the battery in a well-ventilated area, at least 3 metres away from any structures or combustible materials, until you can safely dispose of it. — NSW Government, Lithium-ion batteries and e-micromobility devices

Recalled batteries are a different process

The ACCC’s advice when a product is recalled is to contact the supplier to receive a repair, replacement or refund, and not to delay.

To find out whether something has been recalled, search the ACCC’s product safety recalls database, the Australian Government’s published record of product recalls. You can search it by keyword and filter by category, such as electronics and technology, home and garden, and kids’ toys.

If a recalled battery is also damaged, the NSW Government’s damaged-battery advice above applies to it too.

Why damaged batteries get their own rules

B-cycle says badly damaged, swollen or bulging batteries can be a fire risk and must be managed safely, and tells people not to bring them to a drop-off point. NSW Government advice is that a damaged battery in a household bin could start a fire. That’s why a damaged battery goes to the council network, not a shop collection bin.