Published on Wednesday, 14 June 2023 at 10:01:38 AM
Household batteries present a huge safety risk to all stages of waste management – from kerbside truck collection, sorting of recyclables or compaction in landfill and should never be placed in any kerbside or drop off bins. They frequently cause rubbish truck fires which force drivers to emergency dump their entire load of rubbish on the street in order to try to extinguish the fire, as well as igniting fires in the landfill cell causing closures and serious knock on effects. Additionally there are a range of toxic metals (cadium, mercury, lead) which leach out of batteries overtime when in landfill, causing poisoning and contamination to the soil and groundwater.
REDUCE: Opt for rechargable batteries which can be used for a longer period of time and will reduce battery waste. While costs can be greater upfront, often they become more cost efficient in the long run. As an alternate option and if you have a choice, choose items which are rechargable at the plug, rather than needing batteries.
RECYCLE: Recycling is easy. Stockpile your batteries at home (in a pet and child safe location) and take them with you next time you are at the Bridgetown Waste Facility. We have a big pallet bin for you to place household batteries of all sizes and types – this includes power tool batteries, button batteries, laptop/phone batteries etc all for no charge. Vehicle batteries are also accepted no charge for recycling. Valuable resources are recovered and reused by recycling, as well as minimising impact to our environment.
This video One Spark is all it Takes (click title to view) demonstrates the potential risks and damage caused.
Back to All News