How to dispose of batteries

Some batteries are hazardous waste, and lithium batteries are now one of the biggest causes of fires at waste sites. Bin the wrong battery, or move a load without the right paperwork, and you are looking at a fine, a burnt-out truck, or both. Here is how to dispose of batteries the right way.

Which batteries are hazardous waste?

Three types are hazardous, and they need a consignment note when you move them. They sit in chapter 16 of the waste list, marked with a star:

• Lead batteries, 16 06 01*. The big one, vehicle and industrial batteries.
• Nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries, 16 06 02*.
• Mercury-containing batteries, 16 06 03*.

Ordinary alkaline batteries (16 06 04) and most lithium batteries (16 06 05) are not classed as hazardous waste, so they do not need a consignment note. But that does not mean you can bin them, as the next part explains.

Lithium batteries: not hazardous waste, but a serious fire risk

Lithium batteries, the ones in phones, power tools, e-bikes and vapes, are not hazardous waste by the waste list, but they are dangerous. If one is crushed, soaked or short-circuited it can catch fire on its own, in a fierce way that is very hard to put out. That is called thermal runaway, and it is why batteries thrown in with general rubbish start fires in bin lorries and at recycling sites. Never put them in general waste or mixed recycling. Tape over the terminals, keep them cool and dry, and send them for proper battery recycling.

This is why disposable vapes, which hide a small lithium battery, were banned from sale on 1 June 2025. The ones already out there still have to be recycled as battery and electrical waste, never binned.

Who can take waste batteries away?

Hazardous batteries can only be moved by a registered waste carrier, and can only be recycled by a site that is approved to treat batteries. Vehicle and industrial batteries are banned from landfill and from being burned, so they must be recycled. A normal tip cannot take them in bulk.

The consignment note

Every load of hazardous batteries, lead-acid most of all, must travel with a hazardous waste consignment note that names the right code. Our guide on how to fill out a consignment note covers it box by box. Non-hazardous batteries travel on an ordinary transfer note instead.

What about a few batteries at home?

Any shop that sells more than a small amount of batteries has to take old ones back for recycling, so most supermarkets and DIY stores have a battery bin near the door. Use that, or your council's recycling centre. Never the general bin, and the same goes for old vapes.

This is one of our guides on how to dispose of hazardous waste.