UK’s first battery recycling plant to open

New joint venture aims to end practice of exporting used batteries to Europe

A new joint venture between Ecosurety and Belmont Trading is aiming to make the export of used batteries a thing of the past.

The two companies have come together to launch the first battery recycling plant in the UK, which is due to start operations in November.

The plant will be based at Belmont’s Kilwinning site near Glasgow and could process up to 20,000 tonnes of small and medium-sized batteries a year.

The recycling process will see the used batteries shredded and then subjected to a chemical process, which will remove any toxins and allow components to be reused.

Speaking to Utility Week, Ecosurety’s operations director, Paul Timmins, said it also hopes to be able to recycle large industrial batteries “in a relatively short time”.

“Currently, pretty much every used battery gets exported and to various parts of Europe, where they have the machinery and technology to recycle them,” said Timmins.

“With Brexit coming up, we have no idea what duties or tariffs will be applied to exports, including batteries.

“This country is creating this waste stream of used batteries, so it’s important that we deal with it in-house,” he added.  “We have the technology and the ability to do it here, so rather than that money going abroad, we can keep it here in the UK.

“Currently, the UK has a bit of a problem as the amount of small batteries that get recycled is very low,” he added.

“Many people still throw them away and they end up in landfill. Obviously, as they decay, the chemicals get into the water table and pollute the land.”

Timmins added the plant could also import used batteries from other countries.

“There are not many battery-recycling plants around the globe, so we are looking to potentially import,” he told Utility Week. “Belmont are exploring their contacts to see if there is a market for importing.”