Storing a Retired Battery Until You Can Recycle It

Treat a retired battery as if it were still live, because it may be. EPA warns that even used batteries carry enough energy to injure someone or start a fire¹. The aim of storage is to keep the battery from shorting, being crushed, or getting mixed in with other things until you can hand it over.

What EPA says to do

• Cover the terminals and bag it. To prevent fires, EPA says to tape battery terminals, put lithium-ion batteries in separate plastic bags, or both¹.
• One battery, one bag. Place each battery, or device containing a battery, in its own plastic bag¹.
• Keep terminals from touching anything. EPA warns that a lithium battery may spark and cause fires if it is damaged or the terminal ends touch².
• Leave the labels on. EPA's household hazardous waste advice is to keep products in their original containers and never remove labels³. Don't move a battery into a food container.
• Don't mix it with other waste. Never mix household hazardous waste with other products³.
• Keep it away from children and pets. Hazardous household items can present hazards to children and pets if left around the house³.

What this doesn't cover

These steps are written for loose or portable batteries, such as a power station or a removed module. A wall-mounted home battery is usually hard-wired, and disconnecting it is work for a licensed electrician. Don't pull the cables yourself. Leave the unit as it is and talk to the maker or installer. EPA notes that medium and large-scale units may not be removable by the owner, and says to refer to the manufacturer's instructions.

Lead-acid batteries

EPA's handling precaution for a lead-acid battery is that it contains sulfuric acid and lead². Follow the warnings printed on it. One general source notes that a lead-acid battery with a low charge is more likely to freeze in the cold⁴. That is background only; check your product's manual for storage temperature limits. If the case looks cracked or wet, stop and read about damaged units.

Check your manual

EPA's general advice is to heed battery and product markings regarding safety and use¹. Your manual may give storage limits for temperature or charge level that no general page can. If it does, follow it over anything here.

Don't let it sit

The point of storing it is to hand it over. Work out where to take it using the drop-off page, and book a time soon. The longer a spent battery sits in the garage, the more likely someone forgets it's there. Why it can't go in the trash explains why the bin isn't the shortcut.