Keep lithium batteries and battery-powered devices out of household trash and curbside recycling. A battery crushed during collection or sorting can start a fire.
The label may say “lithium” for a single-use battery or “lithium-ion” for a rechargeable one. Both need a separate collection route, but condition and product design change the handoff.
Leave if the Battery Shows Active Warning Signs
Move away from a smoking, hissing or unusually hot battery and keep others away. Do not handle it or carry it to a collection site.
If a battery fire occurs, evacuate and call 911 immediately. Do not try to put it out yourself.
The US Fire Administration also lists changes in color or shape and odd noises as reasons to stop using a lithium-ion battery.
If you are unsure whether a situation is active, keep your distance and call the fire department or manufacturer. Do not handle the item to investigate.
Check Condition and Recall Status
Stop using and charging a battery that is swollen, cracked, crushed, punctured, wet, burned, or otherwise damaged. Contact the manufacturer and local battery or household hazardous waste program before moving it.
Ask for condition-specific handling and transport instructions. Routine retail bins, mail-back programs, and packing advice may exclude damaged, defective, or recalled batteries.
Search the exact brand, model, and identifying number in the CPSC recall database and the manufacturer’s notices. Unknown recall status is a check still to complete.
If the item is recalled, follow the recall notice exactly. The remedy may require contacting the manufacturer before you move, ship, or dispose of the battery.
Dispose of an Intact Small Battery
For an intact, non-recalled loose battery, find a battery collection site or household hazardous waste program that accepts its exact type. Confirm acceptance before traveling.
EPA advises placing each intact lithium-ion battery in a separate plastic bag or covering exposed terminals with nonconductive tape. Keep the label legible and protect the battery from damage.
Do not put several loose batteries together in a metal container. Exposed terminals can contact each other or metal objects.
Follow the receiving program’s quantity, container, appointment, and transport rules. Do not mail a battery unless an approved program supplies instructions for that exact battery and condition.
Leave Non-Removable Batteries in the Device
Remove a battery only when the product instructions say it is user-removable and explain how. Do not pry open a phone, laptop, vape, power tool, toy, or appliance.
Take a device with a non-removable battery to a certified electronics recycler, participating retailer, or local electronics or household hazardous waste program that accepts the whole item.
Call first. A site that accepts loose batteries may not accept devices, and an electronics program may exclude damaged products.
Use a Specialist for Larger Batteries
For an electric-vehicle battery, contact the vehicle manufacturer, dealer, qualified repair shop, or licensed salvage facility. Do not remove or transport the pack yourself.
For a home energy-storage system, contact the equipment manufacturer or installing company. Large systems require trained workers and site-specific procedures.
For an e-bike or scooter battery, ask the manufacturer and a program that explicitly accepts micromobility batteries. Confirm size, condition, recall status, and transport rules before drop-off.
Do Not Try to Make a Battery Safer Yourself
- Do not crush, puncture, bend, open, or dismantle a battery pack.
- Do not soak it in water or saltwater.
- Do not deliberately discharge it for disposal.
- Do not expose it to heat, flame, or direct sunlight.
- Do not hide damage from the receiving program.
Battery markings and product instructions take priority over guesses based on shape. If you cannot identify the item, keep it intact and call the manufacturer or local program with the label information.
For device-specific context, see the guides to laptop batteries, car batteries, and vape batteries.