How Can Battery Recycling Help the Environment?

There's little surprise that the number of companies struggling to make mobile phone recycling a common thing to do is quite large. Although environmental-concerned companies sometimes may seem to overdo with their concerns, the fact is that mobile phones thrown away randomly prove to be a considerable source of pollution.

The European Battery Recycling Association (EBRA) has recycled more than 30,000 tonnes of batteries over last year, which is 20 percent more than one year before. What makes mobile phone batteries so dangerous for the environment is that they are filled with highly toxic combination of nickel and cadmium.

Levels have dropped for rechargable batteries made from lithium-ion and the nickel ones too, despite their large use in mobile phones and laptops. What EBRA is currently struggling is to convince people to give up their old phones, as most users of these devices tend to keep them even after they are no longer used.

A EU directive has tried to make it clear that at least one quarter from all portable batteries which are sold must be collected over the next four years. Even more, by 2016, the EU expects 45 percent of these products to be successfully collected, even though such a figure might turn out to be harder to accomplish than expected. This comes as a result of the dropping numbers of batteries which are recycled, despite the growing number of devices which come equipped with such products.

EBRA has conducted a cost analysis for the estimate charges of collecting and recycling of batteries and found that for each tonne, there are 800 euros spent. This figure may vary depending on the country where this process takes place. Sill, these costs are supported by consumers and other end users, which discourages the environmental friendly attitude in many who choose not to recycle their batteries.