Battery Recycle Program

Curbside Collection Battery Recycling Pilot Program 

Coquitlam residents who receive City curbside waste collection will have a new way to recycle household batteries this fall, as the City launches its first curbside battery collection pilot, running December 8 to 11. The pilot is fully funded by Recycle Your Batteries Canada!, with no additional cost to taxpayers.

Start saving your batteries — curbside battery collection will happen between December 8 – 11, 2026.

Batteries can cause fires if they are disposed of improperly, and they should never be placed in the trash, regular recycling bins or organics carts. 

Residents who do not receive curbside collection from the City can still recycle their batteries safely at designated drop-off locations.

How the Curbside Collection Battery Recycling Pilot Program Works

Participating is easy:

  1. Collect your batteries. Set aside accepted household batteries in preparation for the collection week. 
  2. Protect terminals. Use electrical tape to cover the ends (terminals) of  batteries over 9-volts. 
  3. Bag your batteries. Place the batteries in a clear plastic bag and securely close it. Battery collection bags will also be available for pickup at the Engineering and Customer Service counter on the main floor at City Hall.
  4. Set out your batteries. The day after your regular collection day, place your bag of batteries on top of your empty Garbage or Green Cart, and secure with clear packing tape, electrical or duct tape (no masking, painters or scotch tape),  then set the Cart curbside as you do on regular collection day. Either Cart can be used, but it must be empty to help prevent attracting wildlife.
  5. Crews will pick up your batteries. The empty waste cart will signal to the collection crews to stop at your property and collect the batteries for proper sorting and recycling.

Accepted Batteries

The program accepts single use and rechargeable  batteries weighing 5kg (11lbs) or less each including:

  • Alkaline batteries (AA, AAA, etc.)
  • Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries
  • Lithium primary batteries
  • Nickel cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries
  • Nickel metal hydride batteries (Ni-MH)
  • Nickel zinc batteries (Ni-Zn) 
  • Small Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries

Not sure what type of batteries you have? Learn more about the types of batteries accepted and where they are commonly used.

Different types and sizes of recyclable batteries

Batteries NOT accepted

The following types of batteries are not accepted through the curbside collection pilot. 

  • Damaged or defective dry cell batteries
  • Wet cell and industrial batteries (e.g. car batteries, marine batteries)

To find a drop-off location, search the Recyclepedia.