News
Don't bin your batteries
This feature was added on 10th March 2010
In Britain we only recycle three per cent of the batteries we use and WasteAware is urging Hertfordshire residents to improve on this figure, as well as asking for volunteers to help boost recycling.
"Batteries are made from important resources and chemicals, including lead, zinc and lithium, that can be re-used if they are recycled," said Derrick Ashley, Executive Member for Waste and Chairman of the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership. "More than 600 million household batteries are sent to landfill in the UK each year - it's such a waste that so many end up in the bin."
To encourage battery recycling, special community drop-off points for batteries are being introduced throughout March in every district in the county. See our battery recycling leaflet for the list of sites here. Also, all large shops that sell batteries should provide facilities for recycling them or you can continue to take your batteries directly to one of the county's Household Waste Recycling Centres.
To show our commitment to improving battery recycling figures, your county council has signed up to CoBRA (the Community Battery Recycling Alliance), an award winning battery recycling scheme. The scheme needs volunteers to monitor the new battery collection boxes. Each volunteer will look after one box, emptying when full at one of the 18 Household Waste Recycling Centres in Hertfordshire, where the batteries will be taken for reprocessing by the European Recycling Platform.
Derrick continued: "Hertfordshire has an excellent recycling record, but it seems that batteries are slipping through the net. We would now like to hear from volunteers who would be interested in working with us on this scheme."
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact CoBRA on 0845 4080337 for further information or by emailing info@cobrascheme.co.uk or call WasteAware on 0300 1234 051.
Mark Hatwood, founder of the CoBRA scheme, said: “It’s fantastic to see Hertfordshire County Council, supported by the European Recycling Platform, taking such positive action to help the environment and tackle the issue of battery recycling head-on. Research suggests most people are willing to recycle their used batteries if given the opportunity.”
Scott Butler, general manager of the European Recycling Platform, added: "Enthusiastic people are the best advocates for change. Working with volunteers to promote battery recycling and collect batteries makes perfect sense."
You will find a series of Frequently Asked Questions about volunteering here at the CoBRA website.