Hey, New Brunswick! It’s time to Collect, Protect, and Drop Off your used batteries!
The Recycle Your Batteries, Canada! program, powered by Call2Recycle, is being launched across New Brunswick, offering you access to a growing network of convenient battery drop-off locations at leading retailers, municipal facilities and public institutions.
Recycling your used batteries helps protect the environment and recover valuable resources that can be re-used to make new products, supporting a healthy circular economy.
Call2Recycle has been managing a voluntary consumer battery collection and recycling program in New Brunswick since 2008. Now, your province is stepping up its commitment by approving Recycle Your Batteries, Canada! as the official provincial program for safe and responsible battery recycling across all of New Brunswick.
So, empty those junk drawers and battery collection jars. Participating Recycle Your Batteries, Canada! collection locations are ready to accept your single-use and rechargeable batteries weighing up to 5 kg. Some locations also take e-bike and e-scooter batteries
New Extended Producer Responsibility Regulations
Under the New Brunswick Designated Materials Regulation 2024-37, our program launched on January 1, 2026, and obligated producers (which include battery brand holders, importers or retailers) are now responsible for ensuring that the batteries they produce, or sell are responsibly managed at their end-of-life.
The collection and recycling of used batteries is funded by these obligated producers through Environmental Handling Fees (EHFs), applied to applicable batteries. This reduces waste, recovers valuable resources and ensures a sustainable program. It also enables the expansion of accessible recycling options across the province, making it convenient for New Brunswick residents to recycle their batteries.
Why Recycle Batteries?
Those little rechargeable AAAs and button cells powering your everyday devices might seem harmless but tossing them in the garbage can have both safety and environmental consequences.
If batteries are improperly disposed of at their end-of-life, they can short-circuit or overheat and cause a fire. They also contain some hazardous materials that can harm the environment if they end up in landfills.
Recycling protects people, property, and the environment and gives used batteries a new life, powering a healthy circular economy. The valuable metals and components can be used to manufacture new products, reducing the need to mine virgin resources.
Recycling Your Batteries is Easy!
The process is simple: Collect, Protect, Drop Off.
- Collect: Store dry cell batteries in a non-metal container like a glass or plastic jar. Common dry cell batteries under 5 kg are welcome, including AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, button cells, and rechargeable batteries. Some locations also accept e-bike and e-scooter batteries!
- Protect: Tape over the terminals of lithium, rechargeable and alkaline batteries over 9V to prevent sparks. Then store your batteries in a cool dry location, away from the sun.
- Drop Off: Drop off your batteries at least every 3 months to avoid corrosion. Enter your postal code below to find your closest drop-off location. As the program ramps up, new locations will be popping up across the province!
Battery Recycling Facts:
- New Brunswick is the 9th province to enact regulations for the safe and responsible collection of dry cell batteries.
- Battery recycling keeps chemicals and metal components out of landfills. These recovered materials get a second life, becoming parts of new products, like stainless steel products!
- In 2024, the Recycle Your Batteries, Canada! program collected and recycled over 6.8 million kilograms of batteries, representing a 17% increase from 2023.
- Since its inception in 1997, the Recycle Your Batteries, Canada! program has diverted over 55 million kilograms of batteries from Canadian landfills.
Frequently Asked Questions
‘Recycle Your Batteries, Canada!’ is a battery collection and recycling program run by Call2Recycle Canada, Inc., a not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 to protect and preserve the environment.
New Brunswick has implemented new regulations that hold producers responsible for the safe management of batteries at end-of-life. Recycle Your Batteries, Canada! which has been voluntarily collecting batteries in the province since 2008, is now approved by Recycle NB to operate battery collection and recycling in the province. Starting January 1, 2026, New Brunswick will have access to a growing network of convenient battery drop-off sites, making it more convenient for New Brunswick residents, retailers, municipalities, and other organizations to recycle their batteries.
The Recycle Your Batteries, Canada! program accepts dry cell batteries weighing up to 5 kg each, including single-use and rechargeable batteries. The program also accepts e-mobility batteries used to power devices such as e-bikes and e-scooters.
This means that New Brunswick residents can now conveniently recycle batteries of various chemistries through a single program, including alkaline, lithium, nickel, and lead-acid batteries. Historically, lead-acid batteries were managed through a separate program.
Learn more about accepted batteries here.
You can recycle your batteries at participating Recycle Your Batteries, Canada! collection sites across New Brunswick, including pharmacies, hardware stores, grocery stores, municipal depots, and other facilities. Use our locator to find the one closest to you.
All collected batteries are shipped to sorters, before being sent to qualified recycling facilities where valuable materials like nickel, lithium, cobalt and lead are recovered.
These materials are then used in the manufacturing of new products, including new batteries and stainless-steel products, such as bicycles or golf clubs. Learn more here.
By properly recycling batteries, Canadians can keep harmful materials out of landfills, prevent battery-related fires, and ensure valuable metals are reclaimed for reuse, reducing the need for mining virgin materials.
Funding for the New Brunswick battery recycling program comes from Environmental Handling Fees (EHFs) remitted to Call2Recycle by the obligated producer. This funding model is consistent with approaches used for battery recycling programs in other regulated provinces and stewardship programs across Canada.
An environmental handling fee (EHF) is applied to certain products, to cover the cost of safely collecting and responsibly recycling them at their end-of-life.
EHFs are remitted by obligated parties, which can be a brand holder, importer or retailer. Under New Brunswick’s regulation, the EHF must be internalized into the price of the product. While you will not see the EHF listed as a separate amount on your receipt, obligated parties may disclose the amount to you through other means, at their discretion.
EHFs are applied to primary/single-use and rechargeable batteries sold as stand-alone items or for replacement purposes, as well as batteries sold in or with a variety of products.
No, there is no fee charged when you drop off batteries at collection sites to be recycled. EHFs cover the cost of recycling cost.
The collection program is available to qualifying businesses and public agencies, including retail locations, manufacturers, property managers, waste management facilities, and local government.
If you represent a business or public agency, click here to learn more about becoming a collection partner, or fill out this electronic form to get started.
