Ever wondered what to do with your household batteries? Many people in the UK simply throw them in the bin along with the rest of household rubbish, which is bad for the environment and more recently ¡V against the law....

In the UK, we recycle more than 90% of our lead acid batteries that are used in our cars, however, only 4% of the non-lead acid waste batteries are recycled. This means that around 600 million UK household batteries ¡V the equivalent weight of 110 Jumbo Jets ¡V are sent to landfill unnecessarily every year.

Waste batteries can cause environmental and health problems if not properly disposed of because of the heavy metals they contain. Mercury is a toxic metal, especially dangerous to developing nervous systems, Cadmium is carcinogenic, while Lead can damage the central nervous system and cause problems with blood circulation.

So what happens to the materials recycled from batteries? With lead acid batteries, the recycled lead goes back into newly manufactured batteries, while with alkaline and zinc carbon batteries, the steel, paper and plastic are recycled.

Across the other EU member states, battery recycling is so much higher, and this is due to increased awareness, available re-processing facilities and state funding. The good news is that since 2006, the European Battery Directive ensures that manufacturers and importers pay for collections and recycling for spent batteries. The Directive calls for collection points to be established where consumers can hand in used batteries ¡V including those from toys, computers or mobile phones ¡V and obliges shops to collect used batteries from consumers at no extra cost.

Facts and figures

« 9 out of 10 people would recycle batteries if there was a door-to-door battery collection scheme in their area.
« The average household uses 21 batteries a year, all of which could be recycled.
« 89% of batteries are for every day general use and can be found in every room in the house.

« All non-lead acid battery types can be recycled including both rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries and battery packs from electronic and electrical equipment:

o Alkaline manganese.
o Zinc-carbon.
o Nickel Cadmium (NiCd).
o Lithium Ion (Li-ion).
o Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH).
o Single-use Lithium.
o Silver Oxide.
o Zinc Air.

Where can you dispose of your batteries?
Until the EU Directive is fully implemented and appropriate separate collection facilities are available, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) suggest that householders dispose of batteries in their household waste disposal, while businesses are advised to contact specialist waste management companies.

In the UK, some councils are already beginning to offer battery recycling services, mostly at the request of residents. I¡¦d recommend that you visit your local authority website to find out where you closest disposal point can be found. It may also be a good idea, to set up a collection point in your work place, as I have done, and collect batteries in bulk before taking them to be recycled.