Battery Recycling Information
At the suggestion of a West Mercer Elementary 5th grader, in October 2023, the City began offering a battery recycling collection at the Mercer Island Thrift Shop. We’re proud to help ensure that these batteries stay out of the landfill.
We need your help, though, to ensure that they make it to the recycling facility safely.
The collection boxes are shipped to an out-of-state recycling facility, and in order to comply with US Department of Transportation safety regulations, all batteries/cellphones placed in the box need to be either taped or individually bagged to ensure that terminals of select battery types are protected from making contact while in transit. Because battery types are often hard to distinguish, The Battery Network recommends individually bagging or taping all batteries.
Taping and bagging prevent the batteries from igniting or combusting, which can result in fires, personal injury and other damage.
Lithium-containing batteries, including small button and coin cell batteries, are particularly prone to combustion.
Organizations that don’t properly protect their batteries may face fines from the US DOT and suspension and/or expulsion from The Battery Network program. Please use the bags provided (or pre-tape batteries at home), before dropping them off in the box at the Thrift Shop.
If you have any questions on safety and guidelines, please visit: https://batterynetwork.org/safety/
To learn more about what happens to the batteries after they’re collected, check out The Recycling Process.
