Will County Partners for Button Battery Recycling:

• Braidwood's Fossil Ridge Library
• Crete Library
• Manhattan-Elwood Public Library
• We also accept button batteries at Household Hazardous Waste Collections. 

 Will County Partners for Rechargeable Batteries:

• Batteries Plus
• Best Buy
• Home Depot
• Interstate Batteries (and all button batteries) 
• Lowes
• Radio Shack
• Verizon
• Call The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC),   at 1-800-8-BATTERY or www.rbrc.org

Retailers accepting spent or unwanted Lead-acid Batteries include:

• Batteries Plus
• Interstate Battery
• O'Reilly Auto Parts 
• Napa Auto Parts

Tips for Choosing a Battery

• If you purchase more than 12 batteries a year, switching to rechargeable batteries will save money and resources. Money will be saved because you are not replacing batteries, and not throwing out old batteries, means less batteries in area landfills.  NiCd rechargeables are made from nickel and cadmium, these batteries usually last many years and are commonly best used in low-to-moderate discharge devices such as scanners, portable radios, cordless phones and power tools. These batteries require special handling at the end of their lifetimes. All retailers of NiCad Batteries accept these batteries for recycling through RBRC (Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation). 
   
• Similarly, the Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries (NiMH)are also available in standard cylindrical sizes and differ from NiCads in their higher memory capacity and better recharge ability. Commonly they are used in digital cameras, laptops and cell phones. 
   
• Lithium-Ion batteries are also rechargeable and easily recycled through RBRC’s retail network. 
   
• Alkaline batteries are the most common type of batteries. The premium version of alkaline manganese batteries are designed for high energy draining devices such as digital cameras and CD players. Manufacturers have been working to remove mercury from these batteries for decades and currently all types are either mercury-free or have an extremely low-mercury content.  These batteries have basically replaced zinc-carbon and zinc-chloride batteries, which do not perform nearly as well. The EPA does not recognize these batteries as hazardous. They are also very difficult to recycle, so alkalines and zinc-based batteries should be sent to a landfill. 
   
• Lithium batteries are similar to alkalines for use, but need to be kept separate for recycling. These batteries have been shown to overheat on rare occasion after they are spent, so store in a cool area with tape on the ends. 
   
• Button batteries or silver oxide batteries, still contain a substantial amount of mercury for their weight. They are commonly used in hearing aids, watches and some cameras. These should always be recycled. 
   
• Nearly everyone relies on lead-acid batteries. They are used in cars, boats, lawn equipment and more. Made of lead and containing acid, these batteries are banned from landfills. These batteries are accepted by some retail outlets when new batteries are purchased. They are also accepted at most scrap metal recyclers and some retail outlets when no purchase is being made. If you have a spare lead-acid battery, keep it stored in a cool, dry place until it can be taken to a recycler or appropriate retailer.