Battery recycling

Latest Articles

Battery recycling

Downsizer Forum Index -> Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Author

Message

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 06 3:08 pm Post subject: Battery recycling
Surrey County Council tips now accept batteries for recycling. Which is nice (I assusme) https://www.surreywaste.info/docs/issues/faq.htm#03 Worth checking your local council too. There are rumours of imminent plastic recycling too..

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 06 3:57 pm Post subject:

Our tip is unbelieveble - I should take a picture next time I'm there. The are about 30 or so different bays, all with details of what you can put in them. Everthing from batteries, to paper, to plastics, metal, garden waste, all carefully labelled, with examples, and with very friendly staff to help if you get a bit lost

One of the best things is that the non-recycleable stuff goes into just two byas, which instead of having green signage, has big red signs. People who put stuff in there get "looked" at by all the other people

A couple of years ago it was just a few big crushers that everything got tipped into. After hearing about that program the other night, I just hope all the great work is not in vain

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 06 4:16 pm Post subject:

That's excellent. I must confess I've never been to our tip, TD just tells me horror stories about it. He went a lot when we moved in to the house (old lady lived there for what, 60 years, apparently in the one room for the last 20

) and even though the house was ostensibly cleared before we moved in there were minor points like a gas cooker with "do not use" on it, and the odd wall. And gas fire. And fire place. And more melted/dented/worn out coal scuttles than you can shake a stick out. Glad there were no red bays then

though I think we'd have got the red carpet treatment when they saw the state of the stuff!

Perhaps we should have a "post your top ten tip tips" thread

Mad Dad

Joined: 12 May 2005
Posts: 407
Location: Nowhere near where I want to be

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 06 11:02 pm Post subject:
At our tip it is possible to buy things that have been rescued from the skips..... and I'm always warned not bring anything back whenever I go.....once came back with an accoustic guitar minus strings, childs scooter (needed minor repair). 3 dining chairs (all different and needed recovering) £3 it cost me.......still got the chairs. I love tips me....

Mat S

Joined: 07 Nov 2004
Posts: 282
Location: Leicester

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 06 11:14 pm Post subject:

Bugs wrote:

Perhaps we should have a "post your top ten tip tips" thread

Here in "Britains first environment city" my local tip is staffed by surly scowling Neanderthals who forbid anybody to take anything. One has to park ones vehicle strategically and let any "extra recycling" drop very quietly into it. Bikes get recycled by a local charity, most of the rest of the stuff gets crushed. Biffa are the morons responsible.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 06 12:03 am Post subject:
Don't know wether they take smaller batteries, but scrap merchants will buy car type batteries off you, £10 for 360kg the last time I checked

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 06 12:05 am Post subject:

Mat S wrote:

Bugs wrote:

Perhaps we should have a "post your top ten tip tips" thread

Here in "Britains first environment city" my local tip is staffed by surly scowling Neanderthals

Take a box of bananas with you next time, that'll keep them occupied

Mat S

Joined: 07 Nov 2004
Posts: 282
Location: Leicester

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 06 12:13 pm Post subject:

Rob R wrote:

Mat S wrote:

Bugs wrote:

Perhaps we should have a "post your top ten tip tips" thread

Here in "Britains first environment city" my local tip is staffed by surly scowling Neanderthals

Take a box of bananas with you next time, that'll keep them occupied

I can imagine the response - "woddafocksthat? Froot?". A box of foul-smelling rolling tobacco would be better..

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 06 1:23 pm Post subject:

Rob R wrote:

Don't know wether they take smaller batteries, but scrap merchants will buy car type batteries off you, £10 for 360kg the last time I checked

Sallyinwales posted a great link on another thread.

This site gives an idea of the current money value of all manner of recycle-able materials.
Aluminium (drinks cans), copper, lead, paper, glass, compost... its all there - even car batteries - yep about £30/ton.

https://www.letsrecycle.com/prices/metalsPrices.jsp

Now, I really don't understand WHY aluminium drinks cans should be worth £100/ton *less* after they have been flattened to facillitate transport.
It wouldn't be naughty people putting heavy things in the scans before flattening them, would it?

Lozzie

Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 06 1:36 pm Post subject:
Dougal - could it be that, once flattened, it is harder to weed out any steel cans that get into the mix?

oddballdave

Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 259
Location: Telford, Shropshire

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 06 1:47 pm Post subject:

dougal wrote:

Now, I really don't understand WHY aluminium drinks cans should be worth £100/ton *less* after they have been flattened to facillitate transport.
It wouldn't be naughty people putting heavy things in the scans before flattening them, would it?

I thought it was to do with the balers.
A can baling machine can take the cans and crush them together to make a decent bale for transport.
If you have already crushed the cans then when they get baled they can't squash together. So they have to be 'contained' or wrapped for transport.

Ease of handling? Got to be worth £100/tonne.
Ease of storage? Again, got to be costing £100/tonne.

Dave

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 06 9:40 pm Post subject:
I wonder why then that it doesn't matter for steel cans

Just Jane

Joined: 16 Mar 2006
Posts: 140
Location: France

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 06 6:44 am Post subject:
Here in France there's a container to collect batteries for recycling at the entrance to most supermarkets so when something needs a new batery you take the old one with you when you go to get a new one - they seem to take most sorts of household batteries. We also have a collection point in the corridor at work Just Jane

oddballdave

Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 259
Location: Telford, Shropshire

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 06 7:56 am Post subject:

Rob R wrote:

I wonder why then that it doesn't matter for steel cans

Our 'scrap' metal merchant runs a very large operation. Aluminium is baled and Shrinkwrapped for transport. Lead is shipped on an open wooden pallet. Heavy metals from ordinary batteries are put in a heavy duty plastic bin.
Steel is put into a very large container under a hydraulic crusher. So cars are cut up roughly, and the pieces thrown in the skip. The hydraulic ram has a pressure measured in tens of tonnes. Under that sort of pressure, steel cans will be forced in to the skip regardless. Their problem allegedly is that they can squeeze more steel in to a container than it is licensed to carry, so they have to be careful to get the weight right for the hauliers.

Dave

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 06 9:03 am Post subject:
I always crush steel food cans & throw them in the scrap & they weigh in quite heavily- it makes you consider just how much metal gets thrown into landfill each year because people can't be bothered recycling. If everyone recycled what they could, the landfill industry would be a much smaller operation

	Downsizer Forum Index -> Reduce, Reuse, Recycle	All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

View Latest Posts