Boots, the largest retailer of batteries in the UK, Woolworths and Ikea are all in talks with Selby-based Anglowide Industries over putting battery recycling points in their stores. A spokesman for Boots said: “It is something that we are interested in and we are looking at. All other things being equal we would like to do it.”
Anglowide is also talking to the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) over how battery collections could be set up. And the company is in discussions with Duracell, Orange, Siemens and Transco.
There has been some confusion as to whether recycling banks can be placed in shops, because retailers do not have a waste management licence. But a spokesman for the Environment Agency confirmed that manufacturers, distributors and retailers could batteries for up to one month, providing that they store them “properly”, so that they are not causing an environmental impact.
But he added that the end-of-life battery directive which is currently being reviewed and should be produced by DEFRA “imminently” could effect the storage of batteries as could the new hazardous waste list which is due to come into force later this year. The Environment Agency said that these two new pieces of legislation may change the rules under which batteries can be stored as currently no limit on the number of batteries that can be stored in one place.
Fiasco
A spokemsan for Anglowide Industries, told letsrecycle.com how most rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries are currently sent to landfill but that Anglowide now has facilities to collect and recycle them. And he warned local authorities that if they did not start battery recycling now they could face a fiasco similar to the current fridge crisis when the legislation comes into force. Battery recycling banks are currently being trialled at civic amenity sites in Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Yorkshire and York and following their success, 30 battery banks will be put into sites across North Yorkshire next month.
The spokesman said that the trials had been successful and explained how each bank has two drums, one for rechargable batteries and the other for disposable ones. The Ukraine-made banks, hold up to 400kg of batteries and cost £140 each. He estimated that they will take ten months to fill. Anglowide currently charges £15 for collection.
Anglowide is able to recycle the nickel cadmium batteries from power tools, nickel metal hydride and lithium ion batteries from mobile phones as well as lead acid, mercury oxide, silver oxide, zinc carbon, zinc air and alkaline manganese batteries.
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