Used Battery Recycling Program Launches in Washington D.C.

Starting this month, residents in the District of Columbia (D.C.) will be able to drop off used batteries for free at recycling sites throughout the city.

The new battery recycling program, launching November 1, is funded by battery manufacturers and operated in partnership with the nonprofit Call2Recycle and the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment. It’s the first of its kind in the United States

Before this new program, Call2Recycle’s collection sites in D.C. would only accept rechargeable batteries, but now the sites can accept single-use batteries.

Residents can drop off batteries weighing less than 11 pounds or with a capacity of under 300 watt-hours for lithium-ion batteries. This program, however, will not accept car or e-bike batteries. E-bike owners should take their batteries to drop-off locations at local bike shops.

Call2Recycle has secured 22 partner sites in the D.C. area where specially lined boxes will be placed in order to safely transport batteries to recycling facilities across the country.

D.C. aims to fulfill the requirements of a law that mandates at least 70 collection sites spread across all eight wards of the city, with this new program. The law was introduced three years ago, but implementation has been delayed until now.

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