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Used to be $9 for a core if I remember right, then it went to $18, now it's $22. Ridiculous. Pretty sure if I took that battery to a recycling center they'll only give me maybe $5 for it.
So what do they do with old batteries that they need a $22 core charge?
- Thread starter The motor guy
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The lead can be reclaimed to use in new batteries. It seems like another case where inflation rose faster than actual costs, but the cost to mine more lead, probably went up too.
I don't really mind, I mean I do, but not THAT much, since I'm returning the core to get the money back. I never buy batteries online if they charge a core fee and don't have a nearby local B&M to take the old one to for the refund, since shipping most lead acid batteries costs more than the core is worth.
Who is charging as high as $22 though, for (automotive?) batteries? Last Walmart battery I bought in '24, had a $12 core charge.
I don't really mind, I mean I do, but not THAT much, since I'm returning the core to get the money back. I never buy batteries online if they charge a core fee and don't have a nearby local B&M to take the old one to for the refund, since shipping most lead acid batteries costs more than the core is worth.
Who is charging as high as $22 though, for (automotive?) batteries? Last Walmart battery I bought in '24, had a $12 core charge.
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advanced auto charged me $22 for a group 24 battery. Gonna bring them the old one on my way to work one day, so it doesn't really matter but it seems a bit excessive.
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Is it a flat rate charge? Or does it depend on the battery size?
Yes it does seem excessive, but what are they charging for the battery? I haven't priced group 24 recently but would suspect Walmart or Costco have same/equivalent cheaper. I can appreciate if Advance Auto is closer, but most of us in the US have a Walmart not too far away. Here, I can even pull the battery off their rack 24/7 even if the automotive department is closed and get it rang up at the front registers.
Before Covid, the local Autozone was open 24/7 but not since then, and the local Advance Auto was never 24/7 AFAIK.
I don't know if the charge varies by battery, I suspect flat rate, but those I buy the most of were group 65 which is a bit larger than group 24. I remember this because it was a bit of a hassle last time. I bought the battery online on Walmart's site, and it added the $12 core charge as a "tax", then when I went to return the core to the local store, they couldn't give me a refund because their system couldn't process it when listed as a tax, so from now on I buy the battery at the store, not online.
I called their 1-800-Walmart to resolve it, got hung up on by one CSR, then got a $15 store credit from the next CSR who stated that they can't give refunds, which made no sense, but I needed something else that Walmart had at a good price so I just accepted that. Long story short, don't buy Walmart batteries with a core charge, off their website.
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Anywhere from $110-$220 depending on where you buy it from.
What do they do with it? It's a deposit. They don't do anything with it. They want to return it to you.
When people don't return cores, the core charge goes up.
When people don't return cores, the core charge goes up.
You must be talking about auto parts stores? I buy my batteries at costco and have for many years. They just charge $15 core charge on any battery they sell. Last one bought in 2024 was still just $15 core charge. They don't need a receipt. They just look it up in their system.
Here, the core charge fee is something imposed by state government to encourage collection and discourage the lead from going into the environment. I assume it's the same in yours?
I should add for those who aren't aware, that if you have some random *qualifying* (normal automotive) battery, that you aren't due a core charge refund on from the seller, you can recycle it at Autozone and get a $10 store credit. I've done that a few times.
https://www.autozone.com/lp/recycle
Excludes lawn & garden, motorcycle, personal watercraft batteries and/or batteries being returned for a core deposit refund. Limit 10 per customer per day. Valid at participating stores only. No purchase necessary.
https://www.autozone.com/lp/recycle
Excludes lawn & garden, motorcycle, personal watercraft batteries and/or batteries being returned for a core deposit refund. Limit 10 per customer per day. Valid at participating stores only. No purchase necessary.
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Wonder if I can get $22 for a few old batteries I've had laying around from when I bought my house.
The metal recycling place near me pays cash for used batteries. Not that much, though.
See my post just a minute before yours. You can get a $10 store credit at Autozone.
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I saw it
High core charge so people don't throw car batteries in the ocean.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/throwing-car-batteries-into-the-ocean
(I will not bypass censor to describe this type of satirical post in the link I posted.)
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/throwing-car-batteries-into-the-ocean
(I will not bypass censor to describe this type of satirical post in the link I posted.)
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Schucks used to do that, but stopped a while back.
They only allowed 5 at a time too and it go on a gift card.
I cleaned up the shop side yard one week and wrangled up like 50 batteries, some had been there easily 20 years.
I just bought a new battery from NAPA this week and they did not charge me a core. I brought in my old battery before scanning the receipt but there was no core charge on it. They took it for recycling as I did not know about the autozone store credit.
This was an online purchase to pick up in store.
This was an online purchase to pick up in store.
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In Europe and the US, nearly 100% of lead-acid batteries are recycled and have been for decades. Most of the recycled materials goes back...to batteries in a closed loop system.
The lead, liquid, and plastic all are recyclable. Plastic was the most complicated but I don't know if that still is the case.
The recyclers I knew in Europe used Italian "separators". The recyclers had visits from government officials several times per day for environmental purposes and for health & safety purposes. There were government electronic monitors installed at and around the facilities.
Car batteries were recycled for environmental protection, government regulations, marketing, purchasing, etc. The lead is valuable enough to strongly incentivize the industry.
https://batterycouncil.org/battery-facts-and-applications/about-battery-recycling/
The lead, liquid, and plastic all are recyclable. Plastic was the most complicated but I don't know if that still is the case.
The recyclers I knew in Europe used Italian "separators". The recyclers had visits from government officials several times per day for environmental purposes and for health & safety purposes. There were government electronic monitors installed at and around the facilities.
Car batteries were recycled for environmental protection, government regulations, marketing, purchasing, etc. The lead is valuable enough to strongly incentivize the industry.
https://batterycouncil.org/battery-facts-and-applications/about-battery-recycling/
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