Recycle those batteries

Non-rechargeable batteries should not go in the rubbish, but how many of us have been guilty of throwing them in the bin. At last, it is compulsory in the UK for retailers who sell batteries to offer a recycling facility in shop. So now there is no excuse for people to throw them way.

Environment Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said, "This new legislation will make it easier for consumers to do the right thing whilst ensuring retailers fulfil their part of the bargain. Old batteries can cause harm to the environment when they are not recycled. The new approach to disposal of batteries will help to reduce the number of batteries that now end up in landfill."

Currently, the UK recycles a miserly 3% of old batteries, but the government hopes that the new legislation will mean that within 6 years the recycling rate is more like 45%.

This is a really good move by the EU as the batteries contain heavy metals that should be recycled. Once in a landfill the battery case corrodes, allowing the heavy metals to contaminate both soil and water. Many batteries contain cadmium which is toxic to aquatic vertebrates.Low levels that exist in water get magnified along the food chain, in a process called bio-accumulation. Unfortunately, the sight of a discarded battery lying on the sea bed is becoming more common, as shown in the photo below by Mark Caney.  Mercury used to be a major problem, but most non-rechargeable batteries are now mercury-free, with the exception of button cell batteries.

There are many types of dry cell battery which contain different metals so they are recycled in different ways. NiCd batteries contain cadmium and iron-nickel which is recovered by heat treatment in the furnace. NiMH  batteries are separated mechanically in a vacuum-chamber and the nickel re-used in the steel industry. Li-Ion batteries are treated by pyrolysis (very high temps) which separates out the metals. Mercury-containing button cells are processed by vacuum-thermal treatment which vaporises the mercury and then it is condenses back to a solid. The zinc-carbon and alkaline-manganese batteries are usually smelted and the metal recovered.

Eco pic of the week

I love this image of aluminium cans labelled as renewable energy, one of Niels Poulsen collection at Ecoscene. Aluminium of course can be recycled many times over. Each time aluminium is recycled, there are environmental gains - energy is saved as it takes much less energy to melt down an existing can, than it takes to quarry and smelt the raw material. Bauxite, the aluminium-containing ore has to be quarried from the ground at great cost. Often this rock occurs in areas of tropical forest, such as in Jamaica, and this leads to more deforestation. Bauxite has to be transported around the world to the smelters where lots of electricity is needed to extract the metal. In Canada, much of that energy comes from HEP but that is not true everywhere.
So next time you drink a can of coke or the like, make sure the empty can, be it aluminium or steel, goes in the recycle bin and not in the dustbin. Such an easy thing to do with great environmental benefit. As they say, very little counts.