Bunnings and Mitre 10 have offer a battery recycling program, where you can recycle your used household and power tool batteries in-store, giving them a new lease on life.

What kind of batteries can be recycled at Bunnings or Mitre 10?

Battery recycling units are designed to accept household single use and rechargeable batteries, such as:

• AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, 6V
• Power tool batteries
• Button cell batteries
• Selected Mitre 10 stores will also accept car batteries

Other handheld-sized batteries that fit into the collection unit slot. They cannot accept lead acid batteries, car batteries, products with embedded batteries or other batteries that do not fit into the battery collection unit slot.

How are batteries recycled?

Bunnings batteries are sent to Australia, where they are recycled in Victoria by Envirostream Australia. The recovered materials are used in a range of applications including production of new batteries, various other metal products and agricultural fertilisers.

Mitre 10 works closely with our partner E-Cycle, which manages the batteries to ensure we have a consistent process necessary for a safe and effective service to avoid landfill.

E-Cycle collects batteries for recycling from our stores, sorts them by type and places them in appropriate container according to regulations. Most batteries are exported through an EPA permit. Batteries which can’t be recycled are managed through a New Zealand provider in hazardous waste landfill

You can find out more about the program here for Bunnings and here for Mitre 10.

Selected Bunnings and Mitre 10 stores across NZ have a battery recycling unit.

• Bunnings Trade Centres are only open Monday-Friday, so if customers are looking for drop off batteries over the weekend, these would need to be taken to a Bunnings Warehouse or a Small Format Store.

If you don't live near a designated Bunnings or Mitre 10 battery recycling store, find a collection facility near you here. The map shows both free and paid collection points for standard household batteries (single use lead acid and rechargeable lithium ion) in Aotearoa. The map helps the public understand where in Aotearoa household batteries can be dropped off, rather than being sent to landfill.