Battery Recycling
Free Battery Disposal for Recycling at The Battery Shop
Drop off point - The Battery Shop, 20 Orbit Centre, Ashworth Road Swindon, SN5 7YG.
Opening times - Monday - Friday 8AM - 4PM.
Contact number: 01793 421509, recycle@thebatteryshop.co.uk
Batteries contain harmful chemicals and substances and should be disposed off correctly.
What Types of battery can we recycle?
Domestic Battery Recycling
Watch Battery Recycling
Lithium Battery Recycling
Car Battery Recycling
Motorcycle Battery Recycling
Lawnmower Battery Recycling
Leisure Battery Recycling
Alarm Battery Recycling
And many more types of battery
Recycling batteries in the UK
Only about three to five per cent of all household batteries are recycled.
Many old batteries end up in landfill, where they can leak harmful chemicals into the soil.
You can help tackle this problem by recycling your batteries.
Where to recycle household batteries?
Most supermarkets and shops that sell batteries now have collection bins for used batteries.
Some town halls, libraries or schools may also set up collection points.
Look out for the Be Positive signs, or similar signs, in shop windows and in stores to find these collection points.
Several local councils already collect batteries in the doorstep recycling collection, or provide bins at the local waste and recycling centre. Check with your local council to find out what battery recycling choices are available in your area.
For more details about battery recycling, and the new laws, visit the website of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Many of the items you regularly use at home will be run on batteries. Batteries from all of the following items, and many others, can be recycled:
•mobile phones
•laptops
•hearing aids
•watches
•portable cameras
•cordless power tools
•torches
•electric toothbrushes
•razors
•hand-held vacuum cleaners
Why recycle household batteries?
Some household batteries contain chemicals like lead, mercury or cadmium. If batteries are thrown into your normal rubbish bin, they are likely to end up in landfill. Once buried, the batteries start to break down and can leak some of these chemicals into the ground. This can cause soil and water pollution, which may be a health risk for humans.
Recycling stops batteries going to landfill and helps recover thousands of tonnes of metals, including valuable metals like nickel, cobalt and silver. This reduces the need to mine new materials, cutting CO2 emissions and saving resources.
What happens to the used batteries?
Recycled batteries are first sorted into different types – for example lithium, alkaline, lead cell, mercury button – as each type is recycled differently.
Lead acid batteries (used for car batteries) and mercury button cell batteries (flat, round, silver batteries found in watches) are fully recycled in the UK.
Lithium and alkaline batteries (AA, AAA and 9v batteries) are part-recycled in the UK. They are then sent to plants abroad for the rest of the process.
Other types of battery are sent abroad, as the UK does not currently have plants that can recycle these.
*please note there may be a charge for some types of industrial battery
