Originally Posted by minidriver

Every Best Buy has a recycle box at the front door for rechargeable battery returns. However, I've often wondered if they might have a problem with a side by side pack - the boxes are meant for typical sealed nicads/nimh, where you couldn't short contacts together. If you have ever accidently shorted a side by side with a metal screwdriver, you know much heat these can generate in mere seconds (yes, I have the burn mark of a hex wrench to prove it) - even if they don't have much of a charge in them. Best Buy + RC battery = Fire?? When I dump my packs in the box I make sure to run a wrap of electrical tape around the pack to cover the cell ends to prevent a short circuit mishap.

Every RC line hobby store should have a green recycle box - Nicads are mandatory recycling (cadnium health hazard), whereas NiMh are not, but still should be recycled.