BATTERIES

Most people at some point will use batteries of one kind or another including, disposable batteries for things like clocks, radios, CD players and torches; car batteries and small lithium batteries for cameras.  However recycling batteries is not as easy as recycling your glass bottles and jars.

In 2001 the UK bought 680 million batteries and most of these (89%) were general purpose batteries.

Types of battery

There are a number of different types of household batteries used by householders for a variety of purposes.  The three main types are:

Wet-cell: Lead acid batteries used to power vehicles and by industry. 

Dry-cell non-rechargeable: These are the most common types of household battery. 

General purpose disposable household batteries include:

• Zinc carbon used in low drainage appliances such as torches, clocks, shavers and radios.

• Zinc chloride used in similar applications.

• Alkaline manganese used in personal stereos, radio-cassette players. Less prone to leaking than the above two types and longer lasting. 

• Primary button cells:

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  • Mercuric oxide used in batteries for hearing aids, pacemakers, photographic equipment.

  • Zinc air - an alternative to mercuric oxide button cells - used for hearing aids and radio pagers.

  • Silver oxide used for electronic watches and calculators.

  • Lithium used for watches and photographic equipment.

Dry-cell rechargeable - general purpose rechargeable batteries for the above uses, and also including Nickel cadmium, Nickel metal hydride and Lithium-Ion batteries used in power tools, cordless appliances, mobile phones etc.

• Nickel cadmium (NiCd) batteries represent one of the fastest growing sectors in the battery market.  Used for cordless power tools, personal stereos, portable telephones, lap-top computers, shavers, motorised toys etc, with a life of 4-5 years. 

• Nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries are a less environmentally harmful alternative to NiCd and tend to have a longer life.

• Lithium ion (Li-Ion) batteries have a greater energy storage capacity than NiCd and NiMH batteries.

Using rechargeable batteries reduces the number of batteries requiring disposal, but 80% of them contain nickel cadmium, a known human carcinogen, and therefore need to be disposed of safely.

How to recycle batteries

Car batteries are one of the few types that can be recycled, check to see if you can take them to your local Reuse and Recycling Centre. In some parts of the world these can be collected as part of the kerbside collection.

Most other batteries are not collected for recycling, as there are no reprocessing facilities for them.  France and Sweden and some USA states have facilities to recycling but it is not widespread as yet though the world. But since the WEEE act this should change.

The problem seems to be that there is a cost involved in recycling non-rechargeable batteries which can not be recouped though the materials recovered from recycling.

Where as the materials in rechargeable are worth more when recovered offsetting the cost of reclaiming them through recycling.

Currently, only a very small percentage of consumer disposable batteries are recycled (less than 2%) and most waste batteries are disposed of in landfill sites. The rate for recycling of consumer rechargeable batteries is estimated to be 5%. 

Batteries should be disposed of safely as they may contain chemicals, which can cause pollution.  If you need to buy batteries, buy mercury & cadmium free batteries as these can be disposed of with your normal rubbish 

There are companies that will for a fee arrange containers and collection for all types of batteries.

If you can’t recycle batteries consider doing the following before you buy:

• Use mains electricity where possible

• Use rechargeable batteries and a battery charger.  The energy needed to make batteries is 50 times greater than the energy they give out. 

• Send batteries back to manufacturers, where such a scheme is available, or set up a scheme with your local supplier if possible.