Somerset Council backs campaign to reduce fires with recycling collections

Cllr Richard Wilkins, Lead Member for Transport and Waste

We’ve backed the Environment Services Association’s (ESA) call to Government to implement universal kerbside collections for waste batteries and small electricals at the kerbside.

The ESA have recommended that universal kerbside collections for waste batteries and electricals should be implemented, much like the service provided in Somerset. If this was to be rolled out across the UK, £6bn could be saved over the next decade by increasing recycling and avoiding the costs associated with waste fires.

The ESA revealed that:

• Incorrectly discarded batteries and electrical devices cause more than 1,200 waste fires every year in the UK – with the number of fires growing by more than 70% year on year.
• Total annual cost of battery-related waste fires now in excess of £1bn – threatening vital infrastructure and placing additional burden on taxpayers
• Every UK household on average incorrectly discards nearly 6kg of electrical items each year and more than 3,000 batteries are chucked out every minute
• New independent research recommends that rolling out council kerbside collections for small electrical devices and batteries across the UK could solve the problem and save more than £6billion associated with battery fires over the coming decade

Somerset Council's proactive approach not only helps to prevent fires but also promotes the recycling of valuable materials found in batteries and small electricals.

Residents in Somerset with a kerbside recycling collection can recycle batteries by putting them in a small, tied bag (like an old bread bag) and place on top of their recycling boxes. To recycle small electricals, add these to a separate carrier bag – leave untied, so crews can check what’s inside – and also place with recycling boxes.

Alternatively, batteries and electricals can be taken to any of our Recycling Sites, or look for local collection points using the Recycle Your Electricals search function.

Please never put small batteries or electricals in rubbish bins, or loose in any of the recycling containers. This includes the bright blue reusable recycling bag, only plastics, tins, cans and foil should be put in the blue recycling bag. Batteries and electricals are hazardous and if they are hidden in the bag could start a fire due to the sorting process used.