The McHenry County Department of Health in Woodstock will be accepting single-use alkaline batteries for recycling through Jan. 29 at its Woodstock location.
Battery sizes AA, AAA, C, D and 9-volt from residential sources will be accepted at no cost to residents.
Only single-use, non-rechargeable batteries will be accepted during this event.
Batteries may be dropped off Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the MCDH Division of Environmental Health office, 667 Ware Road, Suite 110, in Woodstock.
A mask must be worn and a temperature must be performed to access the building.
In past years, batteries were accepted at other health department offices. That was changed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The health department is unable to accept other types of recyclable materials or waste for this recycling program. To recycle other types of batteries such as lithium-ion cell phone, laptop, rechargeable drill or other small appliance rechargeable batteries, vehicle or etc., please review the McHenry County Green Guide for a list of recycling locations (fees may apply).
All batteries collected during this event will be shipped to Battery Solutions in Wixom, Michigan. Battery Solutions is a U.S.-based battery recycler where batteries are separated by chemistry and recycled into materials like zinc and manganese concentrate, steel, paper and plastic.
Last year, the Environmental Health staff had the opportunity to visit Battery Solutions and observe firsthand the alkaline battery recycling process.
Recycling is an easy way to reduce waste from disposal in sanitary landfills, improve sustainability efforts and protect the environment.
"We recycled approximately 1,800 pounds of alkaline batteries throughout 2020," said MCDH Environmental Health Solid Waste Manager Kelli Boeckmann. "That's almost 1 ton of material that we were able to divert from the sanitary landfill."
For more information, visit bit.ly/MCDHsolidwaste or contact Environmental Health Solid Waste Manager Kelli Boeckmann at (815) 334-4585.