Residents boost battery collection charge!

RESIDENTS in Thame have been helping to lead the way in battery recycling by putting spent batteries out with their weekly rubbish.

In a matter of weeks, since the scheme began, 4,300 kg of batteries have been collected in South Oxfordshire and The Vale for recycling, preventing them from being sent to landfill. If these were laid end to end they would reach from Thame to beyond Stone!

Last month South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils, along with waste and recycling contractors Biffa, organised for bright pink stickers to placed on top of residents’ green recycling bins to
inform people about the new scheme.

Batteries should now be placed on the lid of the green recycling bin in a clear bag and will be collected as part of the fortnightly ‘green bin’ recycling collection.

As a result of the promotion, both districts saw a huge increase in the number of batteries being recycled through household collection.

FACTS: Why recycle batteries?

It is very important that batteries are recycled and not put in the black rubbish bin. Batteries contain toxic and hazardous metals such as lead, mercury, sulfuric acid and cadmium. When they are thrown into the rubbish, they end up in landfills. These toxic compounds can leak into soil and water harming public health and posing environmental risks such as contaminating vegetation, polluting lakes and streams and making them unfit for drinking, swimming, fishing, and supporting wildlife.

With the dangers associated with battery disposal the need for recycling becomes ever more important. All types of household batteries including mobile phone, laptop and power tool batteries can be put through this process. There are also other benefits of recycling such as: –

● Nickel, cobalt and, silver are valuable metals, when
their re-use is possible it would enable us to save
resources.
● Recycled cadmium and nickel requires respectively
46% and 75% less energy in extraction than virgin
metals.
● Batteries are recycled into a number of new products
such as new batteries, steel industry products and
electronic manufacturing.

Cllr David Dodds, Cabinet Member for Finance, Parks and Waste at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “Batteries can pose a real danger to the environment if they are simply left to decay. By putting them out for recycling residents of South Oxfordshire and the Vale are helping to remove this danger and also helping to reduce unwanted waste at the same time.”

SOURCE: Press release