How to Dispose of a Laptop Battery
You shouldnt toss an old laptop battery in the garbage.
Fortunately, getting rid of a laptop battery is simple.
Modern laptops often have a slim, custom battery the owner cant remove.
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Consult your laptops manual or the manufacturers customer service website if theres no obvious way to remove it.
What If My Laptop Battery Is Damaged?
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An aging laptop battery may show signs of apparent damage.
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Examples include a bulging or cracked battery pack or burn marks around the batterys electrical contacts.
A laptop battery’s contents will chemically react when exposed to air, generating heat and potentially catching fire.
Once a fire starts, it is challenging to put out because the battery itself is flammable.
This is why lithium-ion batteries are treated as hazardous materials when shipped or stored in large quantities.
Dont leave a damaged battery exposed to air in your home.
Place it in a sealable container, such as a plastic bag, to reduce air exposure.
Never ship a damaged lithium-ion battery.
Shipping companies will typically ask if your shipment contains a damaged battery and refuse shipment if it does.
What If Theres No Recycling Center Nearby?
Rural areas are a different story.
You may discover that your nearest recycling center is an hours drive away or more.
Thats inconvenient, but dont fret yet.
You may have another option.
Nearly all laptop manufacturers provide a laptop recycling program.
The manufacturers customer service website will provide instructions.
Never ship a damaged laptop battery.
Here are links to the programs run by the worlds largest laptop manufacturers.
Unfortunately, this service may apply to the entire laptop and not to the battery alone.
It’s likely to reject a laptop with a battery the company considers non-serviceable.
FAQ
Yes, Best Buy accepts laptop batteries and recycles them at no charge.
Home Depot takes any rechargeable batteries that weigh up to 11 pounds and are under 300 watt hours.
It recycles them free of charge.
The batteries can be dropped off in Call2Recycle bins found at any Home Depot store.
Toget your Windows battery report, open Command Prompt and enter the commandpowercfg /batteryreport.
This generates a report and saves it on your hard drive.
It lists battery usage, battery life estimates, and more.
The average laptop battery lastsfor about 1,000 charge cycles or between 2 and 4 years.
