Battery Disposal - By: CardiffJobs

Disposing of batteries in the correct way is something we should each be responsible for, as it effects the environment around us. The figures of battery waste reported are absolutely astonishing. In 2000, nearly 19,000 tonnes of general purpose batteries were thrown out and 113,000 tonnes of automotive batteries, all within the UK.
The current figures show that only 2% of consumer disposable batteries are recycled. Each household uses around 21 batteries per year. So when you figure that if everyone throws out their batteries as waste, then we are heading for a big problem.

Automotive batteries in the UK are often recycled, with 90% of them currently being recycled and hopefully more in the coming years as companies become more aware of the environmental impact that battery waste could be having.

So what is the actual environmental concern?

Well, Batteries are made up of all sorts of chemicals, most of them containing heavy metals, which is the main problem concerning the environment. When the batteries are just thrown out and not recycled or disposed of correctly, these harmful chemicals can seep out into the ground as the battery casing gradually erodes over the years lying in waste. This will then eventually contribute to soil and water pollution and will affect wildlife and us.

More and more houses are becoming aware of this problem and have begun to separate used batteries from the general household waste. A lot of local authorities have now begun to collect the used batteries as part of the mixed recycling bags, which encourages families further to put the batteries in the green bag rather than the black. If this is not the case, then in very few, but some, car parks of retail stores, there are banks for you to distribute your used batteries into.

Overall, a very important issue that needs to be made more publically aware and that we should all strive to cooperate with.

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Battery Disposal

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