Don’t bin batteries, recycle them

We’re calling on residents to dispose of batteries responsibly.

Many household electrical items, including vapes, game consoles and mobile phones, contain a hidden lithium battery that can be extremely dangerous when thrown away.

Batteries placed in litterbins around the city, household waste or recycling can explode and cause a fire.

Businesses looking to recycle batteries should use a private business waste disposal company.

This issue has caused numerous fires in trucks and waste facilities in Brighton & Hove, and around the UK.

Batteries cause fires

Last week, there was a fire in one of our collection vehicles caused by a lithium battery from an e-scooter.

In 2022, a fire caused £62,000 worth of damage to a collection vehicle and kept it off the road for several months, causing significant service disruption.

Please don’t bin old, unwanted or dead batteries and always recycle them at a dedicated battery recycling point.

Reusing electrical items

Always try to sell or donate unwanted working electronic items instead of throwing them away.

Electrical items can be donated and reused at:

You can find more information about donating electrical items to charity shops on the recycle your electricals website.

Recycling electrical items

If an item is broken and can’t be repaired, or is disposable, then it should be recycled instead of thrown away.

Before it is recycled, always check to see if you can remove the battery to recycle separately.

Any electrical items that need charging will likely contain a lithium battery.

Electrical items can be recycled at:

Visit the recycle your electricals website and enter your postcode for information about recycling points near you.

Many recycling points across the city

Batteries should be taken to our Household Waste Recycling Sites or dropped off at one of many battery recycling points in shops and supermarkets across the city.

Most shops and supermarkets that sell batteries will have a household battery recycling bin.

These recycling points accept alkaline batteries, used in remotes, and lithium batteries, found in electrical items.

You can check if your local shop or supermarket have a battery recycling point on the Take Charge website.

Batteries should always be recycled

Councillor Tim Rowkins, Chair of the City Environment, South Downs and The Sea Committee, said: “Batteries thrown into our everyday waste and recycling bins cause fires and could harm our staff, damage vehicles and increase contamination, making truckloads of recycling waste non-recyclable.

“Batteries should always be recycled, and there are many recycling points across the city in shops and supermarkets. Our Household Waste Recycling Sites accept them too.

“One thing we can all do to stop producing battery waste is to use rechargeable batteries instead of single-use ones. These are more environmentally friendly and better value for money long term.

“Electrical items should never be thrown away. It’s important to remember that any item with a battery, cable or plug can either be reused or recycled.”

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