The year-long pilot, which begins on September 16 2002, will see household batteries reprocessed in the UK for the first time. This will be done by zinc smelting and refining company Britannia Zinc, based in Avonmouth.
The initiative is funded by several supporters: 20,000 comes from the Department of Trade and Industry, 30,000 from the South West Regional Development Agency, 60,000 from SITA Environmental Trust landfill tax credits and 5,000 from Bristol City Council.
Zinc
In the past, batteries collected in Lancashire and Sutton have been sent to France for reprocessing. Britannia Zinc will be the first company in the UK to reprocess household batteries. The Avonmouth plant is suited to the recycling of a number of zinc-containing materials and only minor changes to the plant will be needed to accommodate the batteries.
Zinc will be recovered for uses such as construction, while lead will be used to make car batteries. Zinc and cadmium will also be used to make new household batteries. Other elements from the batteries, such as carbon, manganese and chlorine, will be landfilled or used as furnace slag. However, a spokeswoman said research was going on into using this slag as a binding agent within concrete and bitumen.
The Bristol scheme will see the batteries collected in paper bags through an existing multi material black box service operated for 160,000 households in the BS1 – BS16 area. This is operated by Resourcesaver, a not-for-profit company.
Sustainability expert Jonathan Porritt, who will launch the scheme, said: “By collecting and recycling locally, the campaign avoids transport emissions and will hopefully greatly improve the UK's battery recycling record. The environmental benefits are plain to see – while keeping potentially hazardous substances out of landfill sites, it will also help to reduce the mining of valuable materials.
Directive
If the Bristol scheme is successful, it could provide useful guidance on how the UK should respond to an expected forthcoming EU proposal for a directive on battery recycling.
General manager of Britannia Zinc Ross Holborow said: “We aim to demonstrate our recycling capabilities and eventually play a significant part in assisting the UK in meeting its commitments under the forthcoming European Portable Battery Directive.”
Ian James, recycling manager for SITA, said: “As Bristol City Council's waste collection contractor, SITA full endorses the Battery Recycling Campaign. The collection of batteries can be easily integrated into a kerbside box collection without having to vastly alter the infrastructure of the service and at little extra cost.”
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