Bettery co-founders Charlie Kawasaki and Bill Coleman and the newly installed Bettery Swap Station at the Safeway store in Kirkland, Wash. Photo via Bettery.
Bettery co-founders Charlie Kawasaki and Bill Coleman and the newly installed Bettery Swap Station at the Safeway store in Kirkland, Wash. Photo via Bettery.

The next time you go shopping at Safeway, there very well could be a Coinstar-like kiosk that lets you buy and swap rechargeable batteries.

Portland-based Bettery today announced a partnership with Safeway that will feature Bettery swap stations at select stores in the Pacific Northwest later this month.

Bettery, founded in 2011, builds kiosks that allow people to buy rechargeable batteries and then exchange them when they’re out of juice.

You’ll need to fork over a $5 refundable deposit to buy a set of four AA or AAA batteries, then $2.50 for every swap you make. The batteries can be reused up to 500 times.

Customers can also create accounts to take advantage of rewards programs and track their battery usage.

Bettery is already in select Whole Foods Stores in Seattle and Portland. Here are the five Safeway stores that will have Bettery swap stations, which also act as recycling stations for traditional single-use AA and AAA batteries:

  • 10020 NE 137th St., Kirkland, WA
  • 1410 E. John St., Seattle, WA
  • 300 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA
  • 17246 Redmond Way NE, Redmond, WA
  • 4515 SE Woodstock, Portland, OR

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