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Can you put car batteries in a dumpster?

Covers: Car batteries (lead-acid)

No

Short answer: Never. Lead-acid batteries are banned from landfills in almost every state, and retailers take them back.

Why

EPA says a lead-acid battery can hold up to 18 lb of lead and about a gallon of corrosive sulfuric acid. NERC's 2020 compendium lists lead-acid batteries as the most commonly banned material (47 states). Many states require stores to post a notice that land disposal is illegal (Battery Council International lists 28 such notices).

What to do with them instead

Return it to any battery retailer or auto parts store (many states require them to accept one), or take it to a county HHW program.

Car battery disposal rules

NERC 2020: lead-acid batteries are the most commonly banned material (chart count: 47 states). State tables show a lead-acid restriction in every state except Montana; DC lists none.

NERC is state-reported as of July 2020.

Sources

  1. EPA - Used Household Batteries
  2. NERC - Disposal Bans & Mandatory Recycling in the United States (PDF)
  3. Battery Council International - State Point of Sale Notice Language
  4. Dumpsters.com - What Can't You Put in a Dumpster? (Prohibited Items)
  5. Bagster - Products & Services (capacity, acceptable/unacceptable materials)

Checked October 2026. Rules change; your hauler's prohibited-items list is the final word.

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