Battery recycling: he Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations act 2009

At last the media get wise to the The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations act 2009, although the Mail  runs it from the angle that a pack of batteries will cost us more.

The act is a spot of eco-wankery designed to ensure that the batteries, which contain harmful metals such as lead, cadmium or mercury, are not dumped in landfill sites.

Britons use around 600million batteries a year, equivalent to 21 per household. But only three per cent of these are recycled.

The EU says this figure should rise to 25 per cent by 2012 and to 45 per cent by 2016. Initially, the Government had said stores should set up the collection bins from January 1.

But where it gets interesting is the point with regards recycling all the nasty chemicals and suchlike:

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.

Now you know what that means, if we as a nation don't get things running rather quickly the EU will issue fines(and Labour have done nothing as yet other than arse about on this issue):

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.'

You know that with New Labour running the show, we are going to get fined; although should this shower get kicked out you watch them pass the blame onto whoever takes over.

I first covered this back in 2008 and 2009...

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