Did you know that less than 2% of disposable household batteries are recycled? And that each household uses on average 21 batteries a year? That adds up to UK households throwing away almost 30,000 tonnes of household disposable batteries every year. But there is another option…

Rechargeable batteries are available in our supermarkets, so couldn’t be simpler to get hold of. And the good news is that you can make a huge energy savings by using rechargeable batteries, because the energy used to manufacture a battery is about 50 times as much as the average disposable battery gives out.

The latest innovation in rechargeable batteries comes in the form of the USBcell, which makes recharging even easier, and doesn’t require you to buy a recharger. Simply plug the battery into a USB port on your computer, and Bob’s your uncle, very soon your battery is charged and ready to go.

If you still have disposable batteries that you need to dispose of, please remember that they should not be disposed of in your household rubbish. Some local authorities offer a battery collection scheme, alternatively some Curry’s branches have a used battery collection point where you can leave your batteries for recycling.

Please note that rechargeable batteries should NOT be used in smoke alarms because they tend to run out suddenly, which prevents the alarm from warning when the battery’s power in running low.

Figures for recycling were taken from Waste Online.