New EU rules have come into force today which should help to reduce the contamination of groundwater from discarded batteries.
The UK has lagged behind other EU countries in the safe disposal of batteries with over 90% ending up in landfill sites. From now on retailers who sell more than 32kg of batteries per year will have to provide recycling bins and participate in a collection scheme. The objective is that by 2012 at least 25% of batteries will be recycled and that by 2016 the figure will be 45%.
"This is a very positive step forward because batteries contain a cocktail of hazardous chemicals and metals", said Peter Dumble, MD of Waterra UK. "If we can give the public easy ways to participate in the recycling process then I am sure they will respond. And reducing the number of batteries going into landfill will help us to protect the integrity of the country's groundwater supplies. Waterra have been recyling batteries used in-house for several years and in the last month have submitted our 2009 annual return to the Environment Agency for batteries placed on the market in 2009 - amounting to considerably less than 1 Kg in total!"
2010 will see a lot of emphasis on groundwater issues as the Water Framework Directive is rolled out. Individual companies are being given a lot more responsibility for monitoring their impact on groundwater and the penalties for contamination are becoming increasingly punitive.
Call +44 (0)121 733 7743 today to talk to our technical support team to find out how Waterra can help you with groundwater and environmental monitoring.
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