Battery Replacement / Sheet 05
General information. The official places to check are your state’s environment agency, such as the NSW EPA, and your council.
Sheet 05 · Cell D, end of lifeCar batteries
An old lead-acid car battery can be recycled, and in NSW it should go to a drop-off point such as an automotive shop, a battery shop, a Community Recycling Centre or a Household Chemical CleanOut event. It does not go to a B-cycle bin, which is for small household batteries: the national scheme points car batteries to a lead-acid recycler instead.
Lead, acid and plastic
The NSW EPA describes what happens to lead-acid batteries left at its Community Recycling Centres: they are sent to recyclers, where the lead, the acid and the plastic are recovered and recycled.
NSW counts car batteries among the household problem wastes that cannot go in council kerbside collections, which is what its Community Recycling Centres are for. Victoria’s guide to disposing of hazardous household chemicals gives car batteries a line of their own.
Taking one to a Community Recycling Centre
- Find a centre. There are more than 100 Community Recycling Centres in NSW; they take car batteries, and NSW householders can drop off problem wastes there year round, free. Most are open to all NSW residents; the exceptions are Leichhardt and Cumberland, where you need to be a local resident. The EPA also points to Recycle Mate for finding a drop-off point.
- Check the quantity. Centres accept household quantities only. As a guide, that is up to a 20 litre container or 20 kilograms of each type of waste.
- Protect the car. Handle and carry items carefully, and put them on a protective sheet or tray in the boot to catch any leaks or breakages.
- Drop it off. The battery goes to a recycler for its lead, acid and plastic.
Community Recycling Centres are for households. Businesses are not eligible, and the EPA points them to a waste disposal service or to BusinessRecycling.
NSW and Victoria
| NSW | Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it can go | Automotive shops, battery shops, Community Recycling Centres and Household Chemical CleanOut events. | A lead-acid recycler found through the battery recycling industry association’s list, a retailer’s recycling service listed on the page, or some council waste and recycling centres. |
| The state’s page | NSW EPA: Never Bin a Battery | How to dispose of hazardous household chemicals |
| A duty worth knowing | Transporting over 200 kg, or storing batteries received from elsewhere, needs an EPA licence (see below). | The general environmental duty applies to all Victorians: reduce the risk that your activities harm the environment or human health. |
The industry association named on Victoria’s page changed its name in August 2026, to the Association for the Battery Recycling & Reuse Industry. Its site keeps a list of recyclers by battery type, including lead-acid: recyclers by battery type.
The rules for the trade, in NSW
A few old batteries from a household are a drop-off. A load of them is regulated. In NSW:
- an environment protection licence is needed to transport loads over 200 kg of waste lead-acid batteries, and dangerous goods rules apply to transporting them too
- a licence is needed to store waste lead-acid batteries received from elsewhere, with some exemptions, and to treat, process or reprocess them
- waste lead-acid batteries moved between NSW and another state or territory must be tracked.
B-cycle does not take them. It lists electric vehicle batteries among the areas where it is working with industry on what comes next. For an electric vehicle in a crash or a fire, Fire and Rescue NSW keeps a page of its own.