The European Recycling Platform (ERP), Ireland’s only pan European compliance scheme for electrical waste and battery recycling, in association with numerous County Councils around Ireland, has launched its Christmas Appeal, asking families to recycle their batteries. It is estimated that 32 million batteries (800 tonnes) will be purchased between now and Christmas, accounting for almost 40% of all batteries sold in the country each year – the equivalent in weight of 80 million AA batteries are sold in Ireland annually.
If each person in Ireland was to bring just one battery back to the retailer when purchasing new ones or to their local recycling centre, then an amazing 4 million batteries (100 tonnes) would be diverted from Ireland’s landfill! “We are asking everyone to search their house for used batteries no matter what size, so that they can be recycled and not thrown in the bin. Every household has lots of batteries hidden at the back of drawers and cupboards and we want you to find them and recycle them,” says Martin Tobin, chief executive of ERP Ireland.
Results from a survey recently carried out by ERP showed that people saw a 60% increase in their consumption of batteries when they had children, with toys being one of the items most commonly associated with batteries. The survey also indicated that people were 75% more likely to recycle their batteries after they have children.