Do the positive thing, recycle your batteries

RECYCLE Week is taking place from June 18-24 and Carmarthenshire County Council is encouraging people to recycle their old batteries.

In the UK, less than five per cent of all household batteries are recycled. Many old batteries end up in landfill, where they can leak harmful chemicals into the soil. You can help tackle this problem by recycling your batteries.

Many of the items you regularly use at home will be run on batteries that can be recycled including mobile phones, watches, electric toothbrushes, cameras and cordless power tools.

Executive Board Member for Street Scene Cllr Colin Evans said: “Each year we throw away about 620 million batteries and if laid end to end they would reach from the UK to Australia and back again.

“The chemicals in batteries are extremely damaging to the environment, so it’s vital we recycle them instead of sending them to landfill. We want to raise awareness that batteries can be recycled and there’s no better time than during Recycle Week.”

Most shops and supermarkets that sell batteries now have collection bins in store for used batteries.

The council also has collection points at its customer service centres and you can also take them along to your nearest Household Waste Recycling Centre along with car batteries.

To find your nearest battery recycling point go to http://banklocator.wasteawarenesswales.org.uk/search You can also search for your nearest recycling point for other materials too.

For further information on recycling in Carmarthenshire including the location and opening times of your nearest Household waste Recycling Centre visit www.carmarthenshire.gov.uk/recycling or call Carmarthenshire Direct on 01267 234567.