PSA: Staples imposes a fee of $2.99 for recycling is battery in certain states as of 5/3/26.
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I guess I will recycle a battery on both of my accounts tomorrow, so I can recycle one last time without having to pay a fee because it doesn’t make much sense to recycle a battery and make $2.50 in points when you have to pay $2.99 as a fee to recycle that one battery.
Has anyone else seen the new policy? It starts next month. Batteries, printers and monitors in select states will now have a charge to recycle them. My state is exempt from the printers and monitors but batteries will be $2.99 per transaction. I predict a lot of batteries being thrown away in the trash can outside the store.
Evidently the upcoming change was posted on Zipline, which is Staples’ internal messaging system, which the general public can’t access.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Staples/comments/1sw9aa5/charge_to_recycle_batteries/
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Based on that thread, the once a month tech recycling for 500 points will be canceled.
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I guess we will all find out on Sunday, but I plan on recycling my battery tomorrow to get my $2.50 in points while I still can. It is probably just a matter of time before they scrap the recycling program entirely, including ink recycling… Good thing I only have enough cartridges for ink recycling through the end of the year.
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The current offer says “Expires 5/2/26”. Why bother with this month at all, for only 2 days? Strange.
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My store stopped accepting any tech except batteries a few months ago.
Is there a link to the list of “select states”? Previously some stores didn’t recycle batteries, specifically some stores in NYC & DC.
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@c3 said in PSA: Coming attractions - Staples will charge $2.99 fee to recycle batteries per transaction starting Sunday, 5/3/26. Recycle your montly alkaline battery now to avoid the fee.:
The current offer says “Expires 5/2/26”. Why bother with this month at all, for only 2 days? Strange.
Thinking the same thing, if you recycled in April, the April period runs to 5/2 and you may not get $2.50 on a battery turn in today if you already did it for April. @MrVietnam take note.
With the price of gas and my staples store being 5-6 miles away, it will cost me $2+ in gas just to go there. Not going to even risk it, at best I break even if I get the $2.50 for today with gas at $4.49 around here.
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@mrvietnam said in PSA: Coming attractions - Staples will charge $2.99 fee to recycle batteries per transaction starting Sunday, 5/3/26. Recycle your montly alkaline battery now to avoid the fee.:
I guess we will all find out on Sunday, but I plan on recycling my battery tomorrow to get my $2.50 in points while I still can. It is probably just a matter of time before they scrap the recycling program entirely, including ink recycling… Good thing I only have enough cartridges for ink recycling through the end of the year.
From the reddit thread, didn’t sound like there were any plans to. But nothing would surprise me at this point.
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Visiting Staples this morning with my monthly bundle and about 35 batteries. If I get reliable 411 on the recycling policy, I’ll report.
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My Staples run was illuminating. Starting tomorrow, each recycled battery will cost $2.99 and each recycled printer will cost $30. I predict big future traffic at Best Buy dumpsters after hours.
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Well that really sucks. I know it costs money though. Apparently all tech recycling rewards are gone after today. I am down to a few ink cartridges and wondered if it’s even worth it to buy another box of ebay. I’m so worried they will do away with the “special” rate of $2 and go back to the 20 cents.
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@briarycliffs said in PSA: Coming attractions - Staples will charge $2.99 fee to recycle batteries per transaction starting Sunday, 5/3/26. Recycle your montly alkaline battery now to avoid the fee.:
Well that really sucks. I know it costs money though. Apparently all tech recycling rewards are gone after today. I am down to a few ink cartridges and wondered if it’s even worth it to buy another box of ebay. I’m so worried they will do away with the “special” rate of $2 and go back to the 20 cents.
Yes, definitely makes you wonder. And since you can only recycle 6 per month, buying 100 carts is over a years supply. Glad I brought in a dead printer in April to recycle. Really hate when Staples give no notice on these programs, at least give 2-4 weeks so people can adapt to the change.
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@briarycliffs Staples will continue to recycle phones at no charge.
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@mistercheap said in PSA: Coming attractions - Staples will charge $2.99 fee to recycle batteries per transaction starting Sunday, 5/3/26. Recycle your montly alkaline battery now to avoid the fee.:
@c3 said in PSA: Coming attractions - Staples will charge $2.99 fee to recycle batteries per transaction starting Sunday, 5/3/26. Recycle your montly alkaline battery now to avoid the fee.:
The current offer says “Expires 5/2/26”. Why bother with this month at all, for only 2 days? Strange.
Thinking the same thing, if you recycled in April, the April period runs to 5/2 and you may not get $2.50 on a battery turn in today if you already did it for April. @MrVietnam take note.
With the price of gas and my staples store being 5-6 miles away, it will cost me $2+ in gas just to go there. Not going to even risk it, at best I break even if I get the $2.50 for today with gas at $4.49 around here.
You are right, Mistercheap. I recycled a battery on April 2 and got my $2.50 and I went this morning and recycled another battery on May 2, but I didn’t get any points for that. I did get the normal 3000 points for six recycled ink cartridges though, so I guess you only need to run out and do the deal if you didn’t recycle a battery in April otherwise you’re wasting your gas and time.
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@mistercheap It’s crazy how they change things without notice. Last year my account that can recycle 30/month suddenly was only able to get credit for 10. That happened for 2 months then it went back up to 30. An account that had 15/month when the new program began got dropped to just the 6. Then 3 months ago as I handed in the 6, the cashier told me that I could recycle 16 more (16+6). The account was also upgraded to VIP even though it hasn’t done anything but recycle & redeem Rewards. Lesson learned: check the accounts before recycling.
I recently used Rewards to buy a Toto toilet seat 😃. Using a $20/$75 coupon it was cheaper than Amazon or WM so no PM needed. Now I’m saving for the little handheld Dyson. Dysons don’t get discounted and are excluded from coupon use at Macy’s, Kohl’s, etc. but not at Staples.
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I got points for recycling “other tech” today.
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@c3 for April? April offer exp. 5/2.
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@c3 said in PSA: Coming attractions - Staples will charge $2.99 fee to recycle batteries per transaction starting Sunday, 5/3/26. Recycle your montly alkaline battery now to avoid the fee.:
I got points for recycling “other tech” today.
What “other tech” did you recycle today?
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@my4mainecoons said in PSA: Coming attractions - Staples will charge $2.99 fee to recycle batteries per transaction starting Sunday, 5/3/26. Recycle your montly alkaline battery now to avoid the fee.:
@c3 for April? April offer exp. 5/2.
Got the points for May. I recycled on 4/5 for April.
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@mrvietnam said in PSA: Coming attractions - Staples will charge $2.99 fee to recycle batteries per transaction starting Sunday, 5/3/26. Recycle your montly alkaline battery now to avoid the fee.:
@c3 said in PSA: Coming attractions - Staples will charge $2.99 fee to recycle batteries per transaction starting Sunday, 5/3/26. Recycle your montly alkaline battery now to avoid the fee.:
I got points for recycling “other tech” today.
What “other tech” did you recycle today?
Cables, adaptors, etc. “Other Technology” on the receipt.
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Does anyone know if the April battery recycling offer had an expiration date of April 30 or May 2 because if it was April 30 I think I will call Staples to see if they’ll give me points for the battery I recycled on May 2 since there may have been a new offer that supposedly expired May 2 and I didn’t get my points. I think I will call Monday to Staples rewards Customer Service and just see if they’ll give me credit for my May 2 recycling. Nothing to lose and $2.50 to gain…
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@mrvietnam May 2. I checked yesterday.
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@my4mainecoons said in PSA: Coming attractions - Staples will charge $2.99 fee to recycle batteries per transaction starting Sunday, 5/3/26. Recycle your montly alkaline battery now to avoid the fee.:
@mrvietnam May 2. I checked yesterday.
So then I have no case. I just assumed the offers were monthly. I won’t waste my time calling then. I have about 100 used AA batteries I will be throwing away soon as I can’t get rewards points for them anymore.
It looks like the only thing you can tecycle at Staples going forward are ink cartridges. I say that because as of this morning I only see a recycling offer for ink cartridges.
I wouldn’t be surprised if later this year they get rid of the ink recycling also. I’m with Mistercheap. Nothing would surprise me at this point as they make changes and don’t tell the customer in advance, kind of make changes.with no prior notice to their customers. Good thing I don’t have a box of three or 400 cartridges that could become worthless if they have plane to scrap the recycling program.
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So it looks like pts for tech recycle is totally gone? I read the initial comments and recycled a battery yesterday, no pts since I already did it in April. Now the tech recycling offer is totally gone from the app offers. Assume recycling an old cable won’t even get the ‘other tech’ pts now either.
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@pakle said in PSA: Coming attractions - Staples will charge $2.99 fee to recycle batteries per transaction starting Sunday, 5/3/26. .:
So it looks like pts for tech recycle is totally gone? I read the initial comments and recycled a battery yesterday, no pts since I already did it in April. Now the tech recycling offer is totally gone from the app offers. Assume recycling an old cable won’t even get the ‘other tech’ pts now either.
That is what I am thinking too. I think now the points for recycling program may be limited entirely to ink and toner cartridges recycling. I guess one could test it out by recycling something “other technology” and see if they get any points.
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I recycled a computer yesterday and received the points. The cashier listed it as a monitor.
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@penguin110 said in PSA: Staples scraps rewards points for recycling batteries as of 5/3/26. .:
I recycled a computer yesterday and received the points. The cashier listed it as a monitor.
Interesting. Thank you for testing it out. I wonder what other tech items they will give points for, even without having an offer on the app. I will recycle ink cartridges later today and try to recycle a battery and see if they impose a $2.99 charge or not. If they impose a charge, then I won’t recycle the battery but if not, I will and I’ll see if I get any points. From what I’ve read the fee might only be in certain states and not everywhere.
It’s kind of funny that Staples will make changes like this and not even tell the customers beforehand and just let them get to the store and find out. Seems like pretty poor customer relations.
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I just read on the Staples subreddit, the $2.99 fee is waived if you purchase a battery at the same time.
The fee is waived if you purchase batteries in the same transaction. And you can price match (to Walmart, where they’re half the price).
https://www.reddit.com/r/Staples/comments/1t2s0ej/psa_staples_no_longer_recycles_batteries_for_free/
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@rick505 said in PSA: Staples imposes a fee of $2.99 for recycling is battery in certain states as of 5/3/26.:
I just read on the Staples subreddit, the $2.99 fee is waived if you purchase a battery at the same time.
The fee is waived if you purchase batteries in the same transaction. And you can price match (to Walmart, where they’re half the price).
https://www.reddit.com/r/Staples/comments/1t2s0ej/psa_staples_no_longer_recycles_batteries_for_free/
This will be useful when they run their Free after Rewards Batteries deals, then bring in a bag of 200 old batteries. Better than paying for batteries to recycle old ones
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PSA: Best Buy still recycles batteries fee free.
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@mistercheap said in PSA: Staples imposes a fee of $2.99 for recycling is battery in certain states as of 5/3/26.:
@rick505 said in PSA: Staples imposes a fee of $2.99 for recycling is battery in certain states as of 5/3/26.:
I just read on the Staples subreddit, the $2.99 fee is waived if you purchase a battery at the same time.
The fee is waived if you purchase batteries in the same transaction. And you can price match (to Walmart, where they’re half the price).
https://www.reddit.com/r/Staples/comments/1t2s0ej/psa_staples_no_longer_recycles_batteries_for_free/
This will be useful when they run their Free after Rewards Batteries deals, then bring in a bag of 200 old batteries. Better than paying for batteries to recycle old ones
I still have a huge box of free after rewards batteries I got at Office Depot over the last decade, so I won’t be buying batteries for years to come.
Does anyone know of the items Staples will still recycle for free and you points back, besides monitors?
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I just recycled a coin battery. No $2.99 charge but no credit either.
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@mrvietnam said in PSA: Staples imposes a fee of $2.99 for recycling is battery in certain states as of 5/3/26.:
I still have a huge box of free after rewards batteries I got at Office Depot over the last decade, so I won’t be buying batteries for years to come.
You should check them. I’ve had to throw out a lot of brand new batteries because of leakage.
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@c3 said in PSA: Staples imposes a fee of $2.99 for recycling is battery in certain states as of 5/3/26.:
@mrvietnam said in PSA: Staples imposes a fee of $2.99 for recycling is battery in certain states as of 5/3/26.:
I still have a huge box of free after rewards batteries I got at Office Depot over the last decade, so I won’t be buying batteries for years to come.
You should check them. I’ve had to throw out a lot of brand new batteries because of leakage.
Thanks. I do. If they leak you can call Duracell and they will mail you a coupon for free batteries.
