Axil Supports ESA Take Charge Battery Recycling Campaign

The Environmental Services Association (ESA), launched the ‘Take Charge’ campaign to raise awareness of the importance of recycling batteries responsible.

The ESA (the recycling and waste management trade body) launched the campaign on Monday 26^th October and posts will be shared throughout the week across social media.

The ESA’s goal is to raise wider public awareness of the dangers associated with improperly disposing of used batteries, and to encourage the public to use free and convenient battery recycling services more often.

Axil Integrated Services are supporting the ESA’s important campaign by sharing a series of informative posts across their LinkedIn and Twitter pages.

Everyone within the waste and recycling industry is aware of the potential risks and dangers of batteries not going through the correct recycling and disposal routes.

The dangers of unused ‘zombie’ batteries

Used batteries disposed of into general waste or mixed with plastic or other recyclable materials such as cardboard can pose a risk. These often-unspent batteries often have some remaining charge and are referred to as ‘zombie batteries’ as they can ‘come back to life’ and terrorise waste facilities causing a danger to workers.

Any batteries placed into general waste will likely be compacted or punctured during transportation to their final waste treatment facility. When batteries are damages and become hot, they can ignite, potentially resulting in fire causing damage to premises and risk to life.

How to Dispose of Batteries Responsibly

1. Never put batteries in normal rubbish or recycling bins
2. Only recycle batteries using proper battery recycling services (or dedicated disposal at supermarkets).

Batteries need to be recycled separately from other waste materials. All batteries can be recycled for free at convenient locations such as supermarkets and DIY stores. Some local councils also offer kerbside battery collection services, making it even easier.

You can enter your location into the Take Charge website to find your nearest battery recycling points.

Supporting the ‘Take Charge’ Campaign

Axil are proud to be supporting the important ‘Take Charge’ campaign and will share information to help raise awareness of the different types of batteries and the correct disposal routes for each.

Often found in laptops, tablets and mobile phones, powerful lithium-ion batteries are dangerous if not recycled properly. These batteries can also be found in some toys, shavers, electric toothbrushes and even e-cigarettes. Lithium-ion batteries were thought to make up more than 250 fires at its members facilities between April 2019 and March 2020, over a third of all fires.

For more information visit www.takecharge.org.uk

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