The Environmental Benefits of Battery Recycling
A Recycling Feature from Rabbitt Recycling UK Ltd written by Frank Gendall (July 2008)Implementing environmental, sustainable management practices offer many benefits to a company or organisation including:
- Increases environmental awareness
- Legislative compliance
- Reduces resource wastage
- Cost savings
- Demonstrates adoption of best practice.
The Facts:
- Each year we throw away over 600 million batteries.
- The energy needed to make batteries is 50 times greater than the energy they give out.
- The battery market in the UK is worth £250 million per annum.
- The single largest source of mercury in general rubbish is batteries, especially alkaline and button cell batteries.
- Most batteries contain metals that are potentially toxic such as mercury, cadmium and nickel.
- Manufacturers of alkaline batteries are already committed to eliminating mercury from their batteries; however with button batteries the mercury is an integral part and cannot be eliminated.
- Over 30,000 tonnes of batteries are sold per annum containing nearly 5,500 tonnes of re-usable zinc. A partial ban on portable nickel-cadmium batteries, excluding those used in medical equipment, emergency lighting and alarm systems, and cordless power tools. However, the exemption for power tools is subject to review after four years.
Battery recycling is relatively new to the UK. We recycle in excess of 90% of our lead acid batteries thanks to the existence of established disposal methods; however dry cell battery recycling has been about 5%, way behind our European counterparts. Recycling is now being driven by European legislation and September 2006 saw the adoption of a new Battery Directive that is to make manufacturers and importers fund collections and recycling for spent batteries. This repealed the previous somewhat toothless Directive from 1991.The key elements include:
- Collection targets for spent portable batteries of 25% of average annual sales 4 years after the directive is implemented in the UK, rising to 45% after 8 years.
- A ban on the disposal of untreated automotive and industrial batteries in landfill or by incineration.
- Member States will have until 26 September 2008 to transpose the Directive.
For the business world, a number of the leading battery recyclers in the UK are now offering collection services, some of them in conjunction with Rabbitt Recycling. The following information illustrates in simplistic terms how organisations and companies can deal with spent batteries.
How to recycle your batteries
Before collecting your batteries you may require a Hazardous Waste Premises Code from The Environment Agency. Rabbitt Recycling can arrange this for its clients if so required.Dry Cell Batteries in the forms of Alkaline, Metal Hydride, Nickel Hydride, Lithium-Ion and Ni-Cad can be handled in either of two ways:
With bulk collections of over 200kg, the batteries must be contained within sealed boxes and then palletised. They would then be transported to a UK recycling plant where the various metals would be recovered and recycled in accordance with current legislation. Waste transfer notes would be issued to provide an audit trail. For lower level users, a range of Battery Boxes provide a suitable facility for those requiring only one or two small collections per annum. Boxes in an agreed size would be provided and collected when full or after 12 months. The disposal process would be the same as for bulk collection.Lead acid batteries include Motor Vehicle batteries, Industrial traction batteries and Stand-by Power and Telecommunications batteries. These wet cell units are particularly hazardous so special approved banks are provided for storage and transportation purposes. All these batteries are fully recyclable with the lead plates smelted down for re-use, the plastic cases recycled and the waste acid either recycled or disposed of safely.
In summary, although batteries play a part in so many daily activities whether domestic or defence and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, it is now feasible to minimise their hazardous elements to the environment and support recycling. The recyclers used by Rabbitt Recycling aim to recover in excess of 85% of the materials contained in dry cell batteries.
Batteries are of course but one waste stream and cannot be taken in isolation – it is estimated that over 85% of a typical organisation’s dry waste has some recyclable value if handled properly. There is no doubt that for the future legislation will continue to increase on all environmental aspects with a great emphasis on reducing the environmental /carbon footprint profiles for all commercial organisations. Many elements can be improved with relative ease and at acceptable expenditure if realistic guidance is provided by experienced recycling experts.
Rabbitt Recycling (UK) Ltd is a dry waste facility management and consultancy company. Working with recycling partners in the UK they can deal with about 19 different waste streams from batteries to foundry sand. The company can be contacted on 0845 337 3343 / www.rabbittrecycling.co.uk
