GOV.UK guidance on battery waste says retailers and distributors must offer free collection of waste batteries if they sell or supply 32kg or more of portable batteries a year, roughly equivalent to one pack of four AA batteries sold every day, and that this applies to shops, chains, and online, mail order or telephone sellers alike.

The 32kg threshold

GOV.UK’s guidance sets the trigger for the retailer take-back duty at 32kg or more of portable batteries supplied to end users each year, and gives a practical illustration: roughly one pack of four AA batteries sold per day adds up to about 32kg annually. This duty applies whatever the sales channel, covering a physical shop, a chain of shops, and online, mail order or telephone sales equally, so it is based on the volume of batteries a business supplies rather than how it sells them.

What has to be accepted

GOV.UK describes the scope as any type of sealed battery that can be carried without difficulty by an average person, giving examples including AA, AAA and 9V batteries, and batteries from devices such as mobile phones, laptops, hearing aids, watches, cameras, torches, electric toothbrushes, razors and hand-held vacuum cleaners. A retailer meeting the 32kg threshold has to take these back regardless of whether it is the type of battery the retailer itself actually sells, not just the specific batteries it stocks.

What is excluded

Car, motorbike and industrial equipment batteries fall outside this specific take-back duty. These larger, heavier battery types are handled through separate routes rather than the in-store portable battery collection point this guidance describes, reflecting that they are a different category of waste in both scale and the hazards they present.

How the collection point works

A qualifying retailer needs a collection point at its place of business suitable for safely storing the different portable battery types it might receive, and has to publicise that the take-back option exists, through signage or information provided to customers such as on its website. This is a free service for the person returning the batteries, and does not depend on the customer having bought anything at that visit.

Why this sits outside kerbside recycling

Household batteries are not generally accepted in ordinary kerbside recycling collections, because loose batteries in general recycling or refuse streams present a fire risk, a point covered in more detail elsewhere on this site in connection with lithium-ion batteries specifically. Retailer take-back points exist precisely to give households a safe, dedicated route for batteries that kerbside collection is not designed to handle, rather than duplicating what the council collection already does.

Where the batteries actually go

Retailers meeting the take-back threshold do not process the batteries themselves; the collected batteries are passed on for treatment and recycling as part of the wider producer responsibility system that funds this whole arrangement, covered in more general terms elsewhere on this site in relation to electricals recycling. The retailer’s role is specifically to provide the accessible, free collection point; what happens to the batteries after collection is a separate, specialist recycling process rather than something handled in-store.

What this means for a household clearance or move

A household clearing out old electronics, torches, remote controls and similar items during a move or a larger clear-out is likely to accumulate loose batteries along the way. Because these should not simply go in with general waste or ordinary kerbside recycling, setting them aside for drop-off at a qualifying retailer, rather than bagging them with everything else being cleared, avoids the fire risk this separation exists to prevent and keeps them out of a waste stream not designed to handle them safely.

Smaller retailers

A retailer supplying under 32kg of batteries a year is not legally required to run a take-back scheme, though nothing stops a smaller retailer offering one voluntarily. Where a business does not meet the threshold, it is more likely to need to arrange its own collection and transport for any batteries it does choose to take back, rather than relying on the infrastructure that the mandatory scheme’s larger participants use.

FAQs

What’s the threshold that requires a retailer to take back old batteries?

GOV.UK gives 32kg or more of portable batteries supplied to end users per year, equivalent to roughly a pack of four AA batteries sold daily.

Does the retailer have to take back battery types it doesn’t sell?

Yes. The take-back point has to accept any type of sealed, hand-carriable battery, not only the types the retailer stocks.

Are car batteries covered by this scheme?

No. Car, motorbike and industrial equipment batteries are excluded and use separate disposal routes.

Can batteries go in ordinary kerbside recycling instead?

Generally no; loose batteries present a fire risk in general recycling and refuse streams, which is why a dedicated take-back point exists separately.

Bottom line

UK retailers and distributors supplying 32kg or more of portable batteries a year must offer a free, dedicated in-store take-back point, accepting any sealed portable battery type regardless of what they sell, as a safer alternative to putting batteries in kerbside recycling. Car, motorbike and industrial batteries are excluded from this specific duty. This is general information, not advice for a specific business; GOV.UK’s guidance sets out the full compliance requirements for retailers.

Sources

This guide draws on the following primary sources, current as of 22 September 2026:

• GOV.UK, “Battery waste: retailer and distributor responsibilities”

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