Environmental battery disposal – why it’s so important

You might think your car runs on fuel like petrol or diesel (unless of course you have an electric vehicle) but without your car battery you wouldn’t be able to start the engine in the first place. Batteries of course store power so it is readily available when we need them. In our cars, the battery is essential to start the vehicle and essentially provides a jolt of electricity to the starter motor. Once the engine is running the alternator powers the vehicle and the battery is recharged.

There’s no arguing just how useful batteries are, but that power comes at a price, and all batteries, from the one in your car to the ones in your smart phone, are classed as hazardous waste. This is because they contain corrosive chemicals like sulphuric acid which is needed to produce electrical energy when it reacts with lead and lead dioxide.

If not disposed of in the correct manner, these toxic chemicals can leak from the battery and contaminate the surrounding area such as soil and water sources which can have a negative effect on both plant life and wildlife. Our planet is amazing and we all have a duty of care to protect the environment that we work and live in. 

At Kwik Fit we recognise the importance of addressing environmental sustainability and as such, are dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of the potential use and disposal of our battery products. More than 90% of all scrap batteries are recycled, making them one of the most recycled consumer products on the market. By comparison only 65% of newspapers, 30% of all plastics and just 26% of glass bottles are recycled. Each year 4.5 million tonnes of lead goes into the production of lead acid batteries like the one found in your car and 97% of that can be recycled.

We provide a ‘cradle to grave’ solution for our customers; not only do we supply the latest AGM start-stop batteries, specifically designed to reduce the vehicle’s carbon footprint and CO2 emissions, but we also focus on recovering the old ‘scrap’ battery and recycling it. Kwik Fit works in partnership with Platinum International whose legally compliant, environmentally friendly ECO-life scheme is helping us to recycle all the old batteries that come into our centre.

Car batteries can’t be thrown out with your household waste so if you are looking for a new battery, Kwik Fit stocks batteries for most makes and models and we’ll environmentally dispose of your old scrap battery too. So there’s no need to worry about taking it to your local recycling centre.