What do battery recycling bins actually accept?

Last verified 2026-09-30

The battery bins at the major retailers don’t all take the same things. Here’s what each of the major collection channels says it takes, in its own words.

The retail bins

Two things in that table deserve a closer look.

Power tool batteries. Bunnings names power tool batteries on its list, and Coles names batteries easily removed from handheld equipment such as power tools. Bunnings also says anything that doesn’t fit the collection unit’s slot isn’t accepted. Where to recycle power tool batteries has the rest of it, including what to do with a pack over 5 kg.

ALDI and lithium. ALDI describes the scheme it takes part in as covering AAA, AA, C, D, 9V and button cells, and lists lithium batteries among those it doesn’t cover, pointing to a drop-off finder instead. B-cycle’s own published scope is broader than that: it lists rechargeable batteries of all chemistries up to 5 kg, and removable packs from power tools. When the retailer and the scheme describe the same bin differently, go with the retailer’s page for that retailer’s bin.

Everything the shop bins turn away

Batteries between 5 kg and 20 kg: a large e-bike or e-scooter pack, a backpack tool battery, some cordless vacuum packs. In NSW these go to a Community Recycling Centre or a Household Chemical CleanOut event, free for householders. There are more than 100 CRCs in NSW and, apart from Leichhardt and Cumberland, you don’t have to be a local resident to use one. The limit is 20 litres or 20 kilograms per waste type, and businesses aren’t eligible.

Batteries sealed inside the device: electric toothbrushes, Bluetooth speakers, cordless vacuums, vapes, wearables, flashing and light-up toys. There’s no battery to take out, so the whole item goes. In NSW, selected Community Recycling Centres accept products with embedded batteries, and there are now 34 of them. If the battery can be taken out easily, take it out and bring just the battery.

Phones and their batteries go to MobileMuster. Laptops, computers, TVs and printers, batteries included, go to an e-waste collection under the national television and computer scheme, which some councils run. Car and other lead-acid batteries go to an auto or battery shop, or a CRC.

What it comes down to

• The slot. Bunnings says anything that doesn’t fit the collection unit’s opening isn’t accepted.
• 5 kg. That’s B-cycle’s limit. In NSW, removable batteries from 5 kg to 20 kg go to a Community Recycling Centre or CleanOut event instead.
• Sealed-in batteries go with the device: to a participating Community Recycling Centre in NSW, or to MobileMuster or an e-waste collection for phones, laptops and the like.
• A damaged or swollen battery is a separate case. B-cycle says not to bring one to a drop-off point, and it has its own handling and disposal rules.

The two rules that actually work

1. Filter the map, don’t search it. The B-cycle drop-off finder lets you filter by battery type (power tool batteries, e-bike and e-scooter batteries under 5 kg, button cells and so on), so you only see points that take the thing in your hand.
2. Over 5 kg, or stuck inside the device? It’s a council trip, not a shopping trip.

Before you go

Tape the terminals of every used battery with clear sticky tape. If terminals touch each other, they can spark. Carry them in a glass jar that isn’t airtight, never loose in a bag with keys and coins, and never in a metal tin. Coles asks for a clear plastic bag and specifically warns against paper ones. B-cycle asks you to ring ahead if you’re bringing more than a kilogram.

Button cells are the one thing all four retail bins in the table take, and the one where taping and storing them has a child-safety reason as well as a fire one.

And whatever it is, it doesn’t go in the kerbside bin.