The facts and benefits of battery recycling

Why should I recycle my old batteries?

We all know that many electrical applications require some sort of battery, but what happens to the old ones once they're replaced? According to recycle-more.co.uk, we throw away around 600 million batteries per year in the UK alone. That's a lot of batteries, and will also cause a lot of problems. Did you know that it is estimated that every person in the UK goes through around 10 batteries per year? Yet there are still millions being incorrectly disposed of.

So what sort of problems does this create? Well, one of the main issues with not disposing of batteries the correct way is health and safety. While this only really applies to lithium batteries it is still a growing issue. Over the last few years, there have been many incidents at recycling plants resulting in fires, caused by lithium batteries. This could of course cause serious harm or even worse to the people within the recycling plant and even those in the surrounding areas.

Another issue is the effect it has on the environment, if a battery is thrown into a general waste bin and then dumped into a landfill, over time these batteries may leak dangerous chemicals into the ground, potentially polluting the soil and water, this could also cause harm to humans and animals! 

So, that explains the importance of battery recycling, but what are the benefits? Well, it ensures better safety for regular recycling plants and their staff. As previously mentioned there have been countless fires and accidents at recycling plants all over the world due to the incorrect disposal of lithium batteries, putting people's safety at risk. If batteries are recycled the correct way this would greatly decrease the risk of a fire starting at a recycling plant.

Aside from this, the obvious benefit is the fact that recycling batteries is a lot better for the environment. The last thing we want is for old batteries to end up in a landfill. This is why it's very important to correctly recycle your old batteries.

How do I recycle my old batteries?

No matter what battery you have, there will always be somewhere nearby to help recycle them. For household batteries such as AAs, AAAs, coin cells etc. you will find a battery recycling bin in most supermarkets and some smaller shops along with battery shops. 

For bigger batteries such as car batteries, motorcycle batteries & leisure batteries, you can go to your nearest battery shop or maybe your local garage to get these recycled. If you're in the Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire area, here's where we are: Store Locator

For lithium batteries, most battery shops will also take these including ourselves here at County Battery. 

And finally, for larger quantities of batteries, you can arrange for us to collect them for you and potentially pay you for them! Click here to find out more.

If you have any questions regarding battery recycling or just batteries in general, our team would be more than happy to help! Just give us a call on 01623 757 377, send us an email at sales@countybattery.co.uk, or Click Here to Contact Us.