We’re passionate about recycling at Greener Ealing Ltd and are keen for everyone in our community to understand why you should recycle batteries and electrical items responsibly.
Starting with the positive: batteries contain valuable materials, including nickel, zinc, cadmium and lithium, that can be recycled and reused.
Less positive is the fact that more than 20,000 tonnes of batteries end up in landfill in the UK each year. As they decay, batteries release toxic material that can contribute to water pollution and negatively affect wildlife.
Batteries can also cause fires. Last year, there were 1,200 battery fires in bin lorries and waste sites across the UK – an increase of 71% from 2022. A staggering 1.6 billion batteries were thrown away last year including 1.1 billion electricals containing hidden lithium-ion batteries, which are a fire risk. Battery fires are potentially life threatening and cause air pollution levels to spike (source: Recycle Your Electricals).
The good news is it’s straightforward to recycle batteries and electrical items in the following ways:
- Return batteries to a retailer (shops selling more than 32kg of batteries a year must provide battery recycling collection facilities in-store) or take to your local library.
- Take the batteries and/or the electrical items to your local recycling centre.
- Pop the batteries in a bag and put them on top of your bin – we’ll do the rest..
Never put batteries or electricals in your bin as this can cause exposure to chemicals and creates a fire risk. Do the right thing: recycle to protect the environment and prevent fires.
Click here for more information about how and where to recycle.