Recycling batteries in Shelford

Take your batteries to Lay Electrical, High Street and place in the box provided.

600 million batteries are sent to landfill every year in the UK This causes pollution to the land and water and the loss of the valuable metals and compounds that they contain. The average household uses 21 batteries a year, and all batteries can be recycled including both rechargeable and non-rechargeable, as well as the battery packs from electronic and electrical equipment.

What can we do now? The only way we can recycle them in South Cambridgeshire is by taking them to one of the main recycling centres, such as Thriplow. Obviously it makes sense to have a local collection point for them. Lay Electrical in the High Street have kindly agreed to be a collection point for our village and there is a box there you can put them in. This box is only for dry cell batteries and if they are leaking, they should not be placed there. (Car batteries are recycled through garages and scrap metal schemes.)

What about kerbside recycling? Surveys have shown that 9 out of 10 people would recycle batteries if they had a collection in their area and trials are currently going on.

What more can I do?

Use rechargeable batteries wherever possible. They will save you money!

Plug electrical equipment into the mains electricity where possible.

Try to buy appliances that use renewable energy: a wind-up radio or torch, dynamo bicycle lights or a solar powered calculator.

Write to South Cambridgeshire DC and ask about kerbside battery collection.

Further information on recycling batteries visit the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) website

This page was last updated on 12th April 2008