Battery Recycling

Shoppers are now able to dispose their used batteries across thousands of shops throughout the country as of this month with the new battery-recycling law coming into force in the UK.

Under a European directive, every shop selling more than a pack of batteries a day will be forced to accept old batteries for recycling and most are expected to set up in-store collection points. Many manufacturers are supplying siposal bins for retailers to offer this service in compliance.

The change will bring Britain into line with many mainland European countries, where recycling boxes for batteries have been a common sight in shops for years.

Britons use over 600 million batteries every year — an average of 21 per household — but the UK has a dismal record in recycling them. The overwhelming majority, 97 per cent, are thrown into domestic bins and end up in landfill, where their toxic metals lead, cadmium and mercury leach out into the ground and pollute water courses.

The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009 is the latest attempt, following the Landfill and WEE EU directives, to transform Britain into a greener society which dumps fewer materials.

Any high street or online retailer selling more than 32kg of batteries a year, the equivalent of one pack of 4 AA batteries a day, will have to provide recycling bins or facilities.

Increasing recycling will cut greenhouse gases linked to battery production, says the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which estimates that hitting the 2016 target could save 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Major retailers such as Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Robert Dyas, Dixon’s, Curry’s and PC World are among shops offering free battery recycling.

Cell Pack Solutions suggest consumers switch to rechargeable batteries to limit the amount of waste being produced. A fantastic alternative to alkaline batteries is the Ansmann MaxE range which can be found on our website.