According to the Australian Battery Recycling Initiative, approximately 183 million batteries (8,000 tonnes) are disposed of in landfill each year! With some forward thinking and common sense much of this waste could easily be avoided.
Here’s some tips on ways you can get the most out of your batteries and keep them out of landfill.
- Buy rechargeable batteries – this is the best way to reduce waste while saving money too. All rechargeable batteries are different but most should be able to be recharged up to 1,500 times.
- Preserve the packaging: Avoid carrying loose batteries in a purse, pocket or brief case. Contact with metal (like coins or keys) may short-circuit a battery and render it useless. Leave the batteries in the original packaging as long as possible.
- Use them for years: most alkaline batteries have a shelf live of approximately 7 years.
- Avoid extremes: store alkaline batteries at room temperature – and not in the fridge as some people do. Fridges are damp and this shortens battery life. Heat may also damage battery life so keep batteries away from hot or sunny areas too.
- Recycle your batteries! This reduces environmental impacts, saves resources and cuts back on waste going to landfill. KS Environmental can offer your business reliable battery recycling collections. Contact us to find out more.