Gordon & New Labour as good for the environment as the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Upon looking at the Sky News site, I see that they are reporting that the "One eyed Scottish idiot" is planning a green budget. At first I thought they meant his nose picking but no it appears he is trying to champion himself as the party of saving the trees and polar bears.

Yet SKY missed one that I spotted some time back, a large battery shaped problem in the form of this

"Batteries and Accumulators and Waste Batteries and Accumulators Directive (2006/66/EC)" 

This strange titled bit of EU rule making means we have to recycle batteries, we signed up for it back in 2006 as well as previous versions of this bill prior to that. 

First up links to the Defra/Berr pages: DEFRA and also the BERR site.

Back in June 08' I reported here that:

The European Union has agreed the text of a law that will make recycling of batteries obligatory from 2008.

The directive will ban most batteries with more than a trace of the toxic chemicals cadmium or mercury.

It says a quarter of all used batteries must be collected by 2012 - rising to 45% by 2016 - and that at least half of them must be recycled.

It also says all batteries must be clearly labelled to show how long they will last, from 2009 onwards.

We recycle a total of 0.5% (accurate at that time) -of all batteries, almost the lowest in the EU.

According to the EU directive,  "These efficiencies targets are to be achieved no later than September 26, 2010." 

And, although there are a handful of plants capable of processing the steel cases of batteries, none can deal with the hazardous chemicals they contain.

If ministers miss the 2012 deadline, they face daily fines – and a repetition of the 2002 fridge fiasco when they failed to set up fridge recycling facilities in time.

A spokesman for watchdog Waste Watch said: 'The government is leaving it very late. It needs to act now.'

The British Battery Manufacturers Association said it was 'unreasonable' to expect it to pay for collection bins.

But environment ministry Defra said: 'The Department fully intends to meet the collection targets. We have to get the new system right.'

Now the BBMA have a website and quite a good pdf on this http://www.bbma.co.uk/support/pdfs/bbma-directive-implementation-cons-resp.pdf

Yep but worry not it is in the capable hands of Defra. Former home of David Miliband, which also gave us the foot & mouth fiasco and inaction over tb reactor Shambo. Come on, what could go wrong?....

So yet again these fair shores will be paid a visit from the fuckup fairy as we fail to recycle, having failed to get the facilities built for the very legislation that New Labour signed us up for. As for the batteries, they will be exported to recycling plants abroad.

Yet more jobs for British workers, Polish, French, Belgian, German workers....

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