What to do with your unwanted batteries?

News: EU sets targets for recycling batteries (03.05.06)
The EU has announced that it has reached an agreement on targets for the collection and recycling of batteries.

European Commissioner for the Environment, Stavros Dimas, said that new Battery Directive aims to ensure the collection and recycling of all batteries in the EU at the end of their useful life. The EU hopes to end incineration and landfill-disposal of batteries, and the consequent threat to both the environment and public health problems posed by the heavy metals they contain.

Some 800,000 tonnes of automotive batteries, 190,000 tonnes of industrial batteries and 160,000 tonnes of portable batteries are sold in the EU market each year. The metals used include mercury, lead and cadmium, nickel, copper, zinc, manganese and lithium, all of which contribute to toxic air pollution when incinerated or leach into the ground and water supplies when dumped in landfill sites.

Read more from letsrecycle.com.

UK's first household battery recycling plant opens (18.03.05)
The first UK plant dedicated to the reprocessing of household batteries has opened in West Bromwich, receiving praise from Euro-MP Caroline Jackson.
Click here for the full story from LetsRecycle.com.

Alpha Batteries (Bolton, Lancs) specialise in the recycling of redundant car battery stock, and batteries long past their "sell buy date", without breaking. Through our perfected recharge/discharge cyclical procedures developed over many years, we recover over 70% of what we buy, for reuse. Lead acid, car and truck batteries, fluid acid or gel acid based batteries only.
Alpha Batteries, 258 Turton Rd, Bury, BL8 4AJ, 07725 560 770

Capenhurst.tech new process is the first to use electrolysis on a commercial scale to recover metals from domestic batteries. Shredded batteries are dissolved in solution and manganese and zinc are deposited on an electrode. Capenhurst.tech is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EA Technology.

The RABBITT Recycling Scheme
Three of the country's market leaders in recycling have joined forces to provide a one stop service for the recycling of electrical/electronic office waste, The RABBITT Recycling Scheme.

Worktwice Marketing Ltd, G & P Batteries Ltd and Mercury Recycling Ltd have put a scheme together for a single point collection and recycling of Toner and Inkjet cartridges, all types of batteries, fluorescent tubes, light bulbs, mobile phones and obsolete computer hardware.

RABBITT = Recycle All Batteries Bulbs Inkjet Toners & Telephones.

Read their press release... click here.

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Did you know...
The energy needed to make batteries is 50 times greater than the energy they give out.

Always use mains power if it is available. Use rechargeable batteries as they last longer than use-once batteries.

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NiCd
If you have nickel cadmium (NiCd) batteries then visit the REBAT website. REBAT "encourage collection of nickel cadmium batteries in the UK, as required under European legislation".

NiCd Collection
A number of waste management companies collect NiCd in the UK, including G&P Batteries, Cleanaway and Loddon Holdings.

Following a competitive tendering process in the UK REBAT selected G&P Batteries as its recommended operator to manage the collection of batteries. G&P is able to manage supply of collection bins, collection, consolidation and transportation to the recyclers.

G&P also operates the UK's largest nation-wide scrap lead acid battery collection service.

G&P Batteries
Cresecent Works Industrial Park
Willenhall Road
Garlaston
Wednesbury
WS10 8JR
Tel: 0121 568 3200
Fax: 0121 568 3201

Nobody really wants other types of batteries. Here is some information about the problem and some of the organisations trying to do something about it courtesy of Waste Watch.

One idea would be to send them back to the manufacturer once they are used up. If everybody in the country did this, then they would have to find something to do with them.

If you have any other ideas, then please send an email to reuze.

Visit the British Battery Manufacturers Association (BBMA) website.

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