Cumbrian schools have begun to take delivery of battery recycling boxes.
Renewi set up the campaign to encourage people to recycle the 3.2 million batteries discarded in Cumbria each year.
Renewi, which operates the Hespin Wood site near Carlisle, said many people didn’t realise the harm putting batteries straight into the rubbish could do.
Nick Blake, contract director at Renewi, said: “We are seeing an increase in the number of fires as a direct result of batteries being placed in household bins.
“Disposable vapes are the latest problem, as they contain lithium batteries, which causes explosive reactions during our treatment process putting our employees and facilities at risk.”
The firm has partnered with Valpak and is backed by Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service, Cumberland Council, Westmorland & Furness Council and has been designed with the help of Plus3K. The campaign will be offering all schools in the county battery boxes so pupils can bring in used batteries for recycling.
The campaign’s mascot is Superewe – and the recycling units are called baa-ttery boxes.
Crosby-on-Eden Primary School, was one of the first primary schools in Cumbria to receive baa-ttery boxes.
All primary schools in Cumbria have received boxes and a leaflet for pupils to take home. They have been asked to support the campaign by ‘herding’ their batteries from home over the Easter holidays.
Renewi’s community education liaison officer, Hayley Slack said: “The children were very excited to learn how they could help us save baa-tteries from the bin. The campaign leaflet has been sent to all primary schools explaining safe disposal of batteries and the importance of recycling them.
Renewi operates two mechanical biological treatment facilities in Cumbria in partnership with Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness councils, serving around 225,000 households and receiving over 110,000 tonnes of residual household waste a year.
It processes and diverts household waste away from landfill and creates material suitable for energy recovery in UK cement kilns for recycling.
To order a baa-ttery box, visit recycle-more.co.uk
