Stores in Europe that sell more than 32kg a year of batteries (the equivalent to one pack of four AA batteries a day) are now required to comply to new legislation that forces them to provide in-store recycling bins in an attempt at cutting landfill battery waste.
According to the BBC, the UK currently recycles just 3% of portable batteries and this legislation aims to raise that figure to 45% by 2016.
The recycling bins would be emptied free of charge, but many are skeptical whether consumers will be aware of the new rules or if they would go to the effort of returning batteries to stores.
Legislation like this puts responsibility on merchants. If forces those who sell products to accept some responsibility for where those products end up. Merchant schemes are only part of the solution and for that reason this scheme may fail to deliver. Manufacturers, retailers, and consumers must all be complicit for a substantial impact to be seen. While many individuals will recycle at home, but few venture out of their own backyard to recycle, unless it involves preventing a hefty landfill fee. A first step would be better promotion to ensure consumers are aware that this program exists. Education is part of the solution when it comes to changing peoples habits.
There are parallels with the plastic-bag recycling facilities being offered at many grocery stores. In most places it isn’t legislated that grocery stores offer this service, but it is a method for grocery stores to clear their own conscious. Many of those bins sit empty and unused. If you bring plastic bags to a grocery store, then why would you not just reuse them rather than put them into a recycling bin, walking around the counter and getting more only to put them back in the recycling bin on your next trip.
Ireland may be an exception in the success of plastic bag recycling and this model would likely work better for batteries too. In Ireland the use of plastic bags is legislated. Ireland has imposed a “plastax” consumption fee on plastic bags since March 2002 where individuals pay at 15 cent fee for each plastic bag consumed at checkout. This resulted in a 90% drop in plastic bag consumption, or approximately 1 billion fewer bags used annually. This changed retailer and consumer behavior together: consumers used less bags and as a result retailers were required to stock less bags and could sell more reusable bags to consumers.
For the EU battery recycling program to succeed, it needs a similar consumer motivator. A battery tax on disposable batteries might a better incentive. Consumers would hopefully buy rechargeable batteries instead, and as a result retailers would sell more battery chargers and reduce the number of disposable batteries being shipped and stored.
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