No Place For Batteries

by Ilona Crotogino

May 14, 2007

While Western Australians are most concerned about the state’s water supply, about a third is not sure how to recycle toxic waste such as household batteries, a study of attitudes to recycling shows.

The survey, published this month by the Department of Environment and Conservation, shows a quarter of Western Australians bring their batteries to recycling sites.

Around a half, or 52 per cent of respondents, just throw their recycling in to the general waste bin when they are not sure where else to put it.

Waste Education Officer from the South East Metropolitan Regional Council Sarah Muirhead, says it is not just a lack of public awareness, but also confusion and insecurity.

She said batteries contained toxic components such as mercury and lead, which can contaminate the groundwater if not disposed of properly.

“I know there is a lot of concern in the community,” Ms Muirhead said today.

“The facilities are not there and people feel they don’t get support,” she said.

Henderson Landfill Manager Murray Ladhans said there are facilities in the area that take rechargeable batteries, but not every landfill accepts them.

“When people bring their batteries, we are able to encase them in concrete, so that their chemicals cannot get into the groundwater,” Mr Ladhans said.

Waste management spokesman David D’Arcy said household batteries were not recycled in WA, but some regional councils were running projects on a voluntary basis.

“For example, the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council has the Dry Cell Battery Collection Program whereby common household batteries are collected, often by schools, and encapsulated in concrete,” he said.

His advice was not to throw batteries out in normal garbage or recycling bins but to contact local councils and ask them whether they had a collection and disposal program.