Battery Boxes for West Midlands

3.54.09pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 20th Apr 2004

Battery collection boxes may soon start to appear in every (county) home after Euro-MEP's gave their backing today (Tuesday) to plans to boost recycling and halt the leaching of acid from old batteries into soil and water.

The European Parliament is calling for a minimum of 50% of all household batteries used annually per person for recycling within five years.

Amongst EU nations only Belgium currently exceeds this collection target with battery collection boxes a familiar sight in homes and offices across Brussels. In Britain only industrial and vehicle batteries are recycled at present.

Controversially, MEPs have also called for the long term replacement of nickel-cadmium and lead batteries by less toxic alternatives. They want an immediate ban on their use in household products such as electric toothbrushes and shavers but have supported exemptions for most other purposes until effective alternatives have been developed.

West Midlands Euro-MP Liz Lynne said it was a measured approach that balanced the potential hazards of cadmium with the reality that there were no effective alternatives for use in products such as cordless power tools and aviation control systems.

The Liberal Democrat MEP said:

"Cadmium is a carcinogenic substance that accumulates in the human body and is very toxic to aquatic life. We should be looking to develop alternatives and phase out its use, but the immediate priority is simply to make sure that we collect as many cadmium batteries as possible and ensure that they are safely recycled."

Consumer organisations are pressing for the proposed restrictions to be excluded, but industry groups argue that the measures will increase costs and may result in some products being unintentionally banned altogether.

Iron nickel and silver can all be recovered from recycled household batteries, which might otherwise contaminate soil and groundwater. Incineration of incinerated batteries can release toxins and heavy metals into the atmosphere.

ENDS

Notes To Editors.

Photograph attached of Liz at a vehicle battery recycling plant to campaign for household batteries to be recycled across the West Midlands.

The draft legislation must now be considered by EU environment ministers before returning to the European Parliament for a second reading.