CoBRA NEWS MARCH 2009
Green Awards 2008
Firstly to let any one who didn't know, Mark David Hatwood, who first proposed our scheme, received a national Green Award last year for the Best Environmental Campaigner This is great achievement for Mark and I am delighted that our scheme has caught the eye of those outside of Cornwall! Mark was keen to let you know that the award was for everyone involved in the scheme, its success is due to your hard work in your communities and the positive attitude towards recycling that the residents of Cornwall have.
Cornwall is leading the way, showing how communities are prepared to take responsibility for their waste. Mark is continuing to work hard, talking to other Local Authorities about adopting the CoBRA model in their area. Mark came up with the name CoBRA (Community Battery Recycling Alliance), it works well to have a name to refer to. Torbay have already launched their scheme with positive results and there are a number of others who are in the process of signing up.
The big question: Do the batteries get recycled?
A few people have been asking about this a while some have had individual responses I thought it a good idea to get something out to everyone. I know this is an important issue so please let me know if you want more information - I'll do my best to get it!
When you take the batteries to the HWRC's they are collected by a company called Recycling Westcountry, who transports them to Henry Orchards, the scrap metal dealers near St Austell. Once here the batteries undergo basic sorting into broad types (see more about this in the next CoBRA News). These batteries are then sold on to merchants in the UK; these merchants operate within European materials markets to sell the batteries to reprocessors. All of the companies involved are audited by the Environment Agency, we have good links to the EA and we are confident that they will be policing where the material generated in the Cornwall is going appropriately.
The different battery chemistries need to be dealt with in different ways and therefore specialist facilities are required. Not surprisingly these are spread across Europe where battery recycling has taken place for many years (and in fact were Mark's inspiration for our scheme!). Our batteries can go to plants in Belgium, France or Switzerland; they do not get traded outside of the European Union. In fact, all of the material collected for recycling in Cornwall is traded in European markets.
Recycling Credits
Recycling credits are payment made by the Council to organisations that reduce the amount of waste being disposed of in landfill. The payment is made as an incentive for recycling and represents the money that is saved on landfill tax for every tonne of waste that is recycled rather than land-filled. There is good news about Recycling Credits; Sita Cornwall does not claim the credits for batteries so there is a chance if we can work out the format that you can claim them for your area.
It really does mean that letting me know each time you go the site is important as I think the easiest thing will be to attribute an approximate weight to a full tube and estimate the contribution your tube makes from the number of times it is emptied at the HWRC. If you have questions about this please get in touch. I will be working on a plan in the next month or so (once I have taken some of my over due holiday!)
New boxes on the sites
Recent visitors to the HWRC's will be pleased to see that there are now dedicated bins for the batteries that look smarter and keep the batteries dry. I am pleased that Sita have recognised how well the scheme is progressing (of course with their on going financial support) and have made the changes on the sites.
Results so far
The scheme has now been running for more than a year, with small beginnings the tonnage has been creeping up slowly. We are now in some months receiving nearly a tonne of household batteries through the HWRCs - this is fantastic! The figures below are the total thought the HWRCs, so not all of them will be down to our tubes but I think the scheme as a whole had made people much more aware of the facility to recycle batteries so I think we can claim the victory!
2008/9 6.1 tonnes
2009/10 - who knows lets keep going!
A couple of people have mentioned to me the possibility of getting the tubes emptied by the contractors - this is not on the cards at the moment. The change to the Unitary Authority and alteration of some contracts in the county is taking up time and energy in the Waste Management sector. I do not think there will be any fundamental change in the way we run the scheme until the EU Directive Targets are fully adopted in the UK and there is more impetus/incentives for household batteries to be collected.
Rachael Bice
Waste Management Officer