The Big Battery Binge

Friday 26th January 2018

Did you know, 178 million used batteries are sat festering in UK homes?

You might ask why this matters?

Well, household batteries can be toxic. They contain heavy metals including lead, mercury, cadmium, zinc, manganese, and lithium. These should all be reused, as heavy metals are a valuable resource. The batteries’ contents can also be hazardous if not treated properly. However, millions of batteries are still being binned and end up in landfill. There, the valuable elements are not reused, and they damage the environment.

A ‘Bring Back Heavy Metal’ campaign has been launched to tackle the problem. The campaign encourages people to stop binging on batteries and:

  1. Dig out (hunt through old drawers for unwanted batteries)
  2. Share photo (to help spread the campaign message, making friends and families aware)
  3. Drop off (actually take the batteries to a recycling point)

Supermarkets and other battery retailers are all obliged to have battery recycling points, so just ask in your local shop to find out where you can recycle yours.

Paper Round Battery Recycling Tube

How can your business get involved?

Businesses too can (and should) help. At Paper Round we offer a battery recycling service that is fully compliant with UK legislation and processes them safely and environmentally. We collect all types of batteries, including zinc, nickel, and lithium. We will provide you with a battery box, or a tube if you have larger numbers of batteries. Once full we will collect your batteries alongside your usual recycling service. Just call our Helpdesk team to find out more or book a collection: 020 7407 9100.