RESIDENTS across Warwickshire are reminded to recycle their Christmas batteries safely.
Warwickshire County Council’s waste and recycling service warn that batteries should never be placed in the household waste or recycling bin because they pose a serious fire risk, having caused several fires at waste sites across the county.
In the UK last year, there were 1,200 fires recorded in bins and waste centres because of discarded batteries – a 71 per cent increase on the previous year.
When batteries end up in waste or recycling streams, they can be easily damaged by sorting equipment.
Once damaged, they can overheat, ignite, and even explode, creating dangerous situations for waste management facilities and workers.
To ensure this problem does not occur in Warwickshire, residents are encouraged to, firstly, opt for rechargeable batteries. These are far better for the environment as they take much longer, often years, to become part of waste streams.
For residents who have non-rechargeable batteries (or rechargeable batteries that are no longer holding charge) to be disposed of, these should be taken to a household waste recycling centre, which has a special section for used batteries, or large supermarkets and some large shops have special bins where batteries can be disposed of safely.
WCC’s environment spokesperson Coun Darren Cheshire said: “It’s important that our residents think very carefully about how they dispose of batteries all year round and particularly at Christmas when so many are used in a range of toys and gadgets. Something as tiny as a battery can lead to a great deal of damage and disruption to waste processing services if they are disposed of incorrectly.”
