Regular batteries (alkaline - non-rechargeable) in the US are not recycled. There are no recyclers that will even take them (except a few that will just end up throwing them away, and a lesser few that will store indefinitely them).
These batteries are supposed go into your regular trash, and into the regular landfill, as they only contain trace amounts of any metals (too little to spend any effort extracting them out). And are considered non-toxic as far as I know (but don't eat them).
The other types of batteries, the rechargeable types, are mostly recyclable and are not supposed to be thrown away.
What kind of batteries do you have that do not contain toxic chemicals or heavy metals? Just because some people (countries?) let you put them in the trash doesn't mean they should go in the trash.
We have special bins for any batteries. The bins are available in many shops.
All packets of batteries (here) ask you to not just throw them into the trash but to send them to the special bins. This is part of law.
(http://www.environmentlaw.org.uk/rte.asp?id=245)
This law is part of EU directives.