The UK throws away 600 million household batteries every year.
At present only one third are collected and recycled with the remaining batteries being sent to landfill as general waste. These will eventually break down and the dangerous chemicals may leach out resulting in soil and water pollution, in turn causing damage to our natural ecosystems and wildlife.
The materials held within the batteries can be recovered and reused. This will reduce the demand for raw materials required each year and help preserve resources. As some of the materials are heavy metals such as lead and mercury, it is important that they do not end up in the waste stream.
You can bring your used batteries in to practice to be safely disposed or recycled. The battery boxes are available in each of the waiting rooms across all our branch sites.