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Recent figures show that fewer than three per cent of British households recycle batteries.
Simon Duffin, who is the Head of Press for the UK office of the European Parliament, commented that he was looking forward to having a battery collection service in his area: “I have a drawer full of old batteries at home. It is probably polluting my home in the meantime.”
Although Duffin knows that there is an EU Battery Directive in place, most Britons may not be aware of the fact. The directive has set portable household battery collection targets of 25 per cent by 2012 and at 45 per cent by 2016.
The Battery Directive, which was agreed in 2006, places restrictions on mercury and cadmium batteries and requires that all new batteries are marked with a crossed wheelie bin symbol, as well as the chemical symbols for mercury, cadmium and lead.
In addition, on 5 May 2009, part of the directive was incorporated into legislation in the UK. A “producer responsibility” directive stipulates that battery producers must finance collection schemes, and in the absence of such as scheme, the producers are required to take back used portable batteries from consumers.
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