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Each year we throw away over 600 million household batteries.
The energy needed to make batteries is 50 times greater than the energy they give out.
On average each UK household will spend approx. £100 a year on batteries.
The battery market in the UK is worth £250 million per year.
The single largest source of mercury in household rubbish is batteries, especially alkaline and button cell batteries.
Most batteries contain metals that are potentially toxic, such as mercury, cadmium, and nickel.
Manufacturers of alkaline batteries have already made the commitment to eventually eliminate mercury from batteries.
However mercury is an integrated part of button batteries and cannot be eliminated.
Over 30,000 tonnes of batteries are sold per annum, containing nearly 5,500 tonnes of reusable zinc.
Many European countries began recycling batteries years earlier than the UK (Austria commenced activities in 1992 and currently recycles over 60% of all batteries sold there). By comparison, the UK currently recycles about 5% of its batteries.
Bristol City Council ran a trial during 2002-3 and proved that significant advances can be made in this respect by utiltising the kerb side collection scheme. Around 6% of batteries purchased in the area were collected in its pilot year and that amounted to around 10 tonnes of batteries.
The Czech Republic has totally prohibited batteries entering landfill since 2002 - we must adopt similar action and ensure recycling becomes the norm. |
