Barnado’s Retail joins Valpak battery collection network

A total of 285 Barnardo’s charity shops now have Valpak battery collection boxes in place, meaning members of the public can safely and conveniently deposit their waste batteries for recycling while shopping for bargains.

Householders can find Barnardo’s outlets that collect waste batteries by entering their postcode into Valpak’s recycle-more Bank Locator and selecting the category “Domestic batteries.”

Sonia Green, Head of GIK & Recycling at Barnardo’s, commented “With Valpak offering us a free battery recycling service, it means our organisation and our customers can properly dispose of this hazardous waste with little hassle and no cost. In an industry where savings such as this can be passed on to good causes, it is a very welcome addition.”

James Nash, Commercial Manager at Valpak, commented “Being in the position to offer free battery recycling services is always a positive thing, enabling people to easily access something of great benefit to the environment. And to do so for such a worthwhile organisation is even more rewarding. The savings Barnardo’s make can be redirected to further help their cause and the bin placements will hopefully encourage more footfall in their stores.”

Importance of battery recycling

Valpak’s objective is to ensure that all householders and businesses are disposing of their waste batteries correctly. Every week we hear of fires allegedly caused by batteries that have been discarded in general waste, with lithium batteries (found in electronic devices such as mobile phones and e-cigarettes etc) being the main culprits.

Batteries are hazardous to human health, wildlife and the environment if they end up in landfill, as they contain harmful chemicals, including acids and heavy metals such as lead and mercury, which leak into the soil when they start to breakdown.

By encouraging consumers to recycle waste batteries at one of their convenient collection points, Valpak hopes to reduce the amount of battery waste going to landfill and the demand for raw materials, as well as preserve resources.

Valpak’s free battery collection network

Valpak’s battery collection network is made up of over 30,000 collection sites across the UK. The network has been running since 2009 and to date the company has collected 640,208,333 batteries for recycling, with an average of 123 battery boxes issued each week!

Valpak’s battery collection service is free to all businesses and organisations within the UK. Valpak organises for battery boxes to be delivered to the site for the collection of household portable batteries, such as AA, AAA. Once the box is filled, the batteries are collected, and the box left with the customer for future use.