The Britannia Zinc smelting works at Avonmouth has been forced to close by 2 million losses every month. Bristol’s year-long pilot scheme to recycle consumer batteries is now left without an end market.
The project, which recovered lead, zinc and cadmium, had attracted worldwide interest on its inauguration in September 2002.
Katy Bedingfield, speaking on behalf of the scheme, acknowledged the news was a severe blow but remained upbeat as to the future. “Kerbside collections are carrying on, and the awareness campaign will continue as normal. Our aim is still to collect 10 tonnes by the end of the 12-month period,” she said.
“Our only immediate problem is obviously to find another reprocessor. Britannia are helping us as best they can, and we are confident it won’t be a lengthy process. We are very keen to keep the scheme Britain-based, but it may be we have to look to the continent.”
The organisation, currently stockpiling the used batteries at a resource plant, envisages the matter will be resolved at no major additional cost. An eventual expansion of the scheme, which had collected over 3 tonnes by the end of January 2003, is still planned.
The closure of the Avonmouth plant was ordered by its Australian owners MIM Holdings following the collapse of a sell-off deal, and will mean the loss of 400 jobs. The plant, which produced an average of 90,000 tonnes of zinc annually, has been at the site for 50 years.
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