Nearly half of people have not recycled a battery

The research, which was carried out on the scheme's behalf by YouGov, found that 49% of people had never recycled a waste portable battery.

And, it also reveals a lack of knowledge of where batteries could be taken for recycling – with 45% of those who had never recycled a battery citing not knowing where to take them for recycling as the reason for this, and 45% of all adults saying they didn't know if there was a collection point near their home or place of work.

The publication of the results comes as the first year of the UK's producer responsibility system for collecting waste batteries for recycling draws to a close. Producers appear to be on track to meet this year's non-statutory 10% collection target, but with major question marks over whether the 25% goal set by the EU Batteries Directive for 2012 will be met (see letsrecycle.com story).

ERP highlighted the festive period as being key to increasing collection rates further, with around 405 of batteries being sold over Christmas, creating hundreds of tonnes of waste material in the New Year.

Scott Butler, general manager of ERP, said:”Loads of batteries are bought at Christmas. We want people to make their New Year a bit greener by recycling them instead of throwing them in the bin.

“We're going to need everyone's help if the UK is to meet its challenging target of recycling a quarter of all batteries by 2012,” he added.

Findings

Among the other findings of the ERP survey were that, of those who had never recycled a battery, just 2% said it was because they didn't have time to do so and 8% said they couldn't be bothered.

The research also found regional variations in participation, with 58% of Welsh residents saying they had recycled a battery, while only 30% in Northern Ireland had done.

And, in terms of age, 52% of over-55s had recycled waste batteries, but only 27% of 16-24 year olds had.

The concerns over public awareness of battery recycling mirror those shared by many involved in WEEE recycling, with frustrations over the lack of a national campaign prompting some in the sector to join forces to fund and produce a TV advert (see letsrecycle.com story).