John Bell & Croyden has a clear responsibility and a role to play in implementing the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations. We have joined a compliance scheme to meet our obligations as an importer and ‘producer’ of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment.

From 1 July 2007, the UK’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations will give members of the public the opportunity to return their waste electrical items to retailers for recycling. This new legislation seeks to address the 1.2 million tonnes of electrical and electronic waste produced by households every year in the UK alone – that’s more than 150,000 double decker buses full of electrical and electronic rubbish each and every year.

Landfilling waste creates a number of environmental problems and this is particularly true of electronic wastes which may contain heavy metals and so called ‘chemicals of concern’ such as brominated flame retardants. It is anticipated that within ten years there will be very little or no landfill left in the UK. At the same time the amount of WEEE produced in the UK is growing at a rate of 5% each year so something has to be done; simply discarding this waste to landfill is no longer an option.

In addition to joining the compliance scheme, we have opted to join the Distributor Takeback Scheme to manage waste which the public, including some of our customers, wish to dispose of. We won’t be able to take waste items back in our store, but we have teamed up with over 200 other retailers to support the development of a recycling network which will be accessible to the majority of households.

If you have waste, including waste electrical and electronic items, which you wish to recycle, you can use the Recycle More website to find the closest recycling site for your waste: http://www.recycle-more.co.uk.

If you have a question or would simply like to know more about John Bell & Croyden and the environment, then please email us at: jbc@johnbellcroyden.co.uk

In the UK only about three to five per cent of all household batteries are recycled. Most old batteries end up in landfill, where they can leak harmful chemicals into the soil.

From 1st February 2010 you will be able to recycle portable batteries at John Bell & Croyden as required by the Waste Batteries and Accumulator Regulation 2009.

All you need to do is bring them in to our store and drop them off free of charge at our Recycling Battery Section.

Alternatively you can use the Batteryback website to find to find your closest collection point. Just click on the link: http://www.batteryback.org and enter your postcode.

For Health, Safety and Environmental reasons, John Bell & Croyden will however not accept batteries returned by post.

Please take time to read the Health and Safety information regarding the use and storage of batteries.

Health and Safety information Q & A

Q – What is a portable battery?
A – Portable batteries are:

• Sealed
• capable of being hand-carried by the average person without difficulty; and not an automotive or industrial battery.

Portable batteries include AA and AAA cells, button cells (used in hearing aids and watches etc), mobile phone batteries, laptop batteries, and those found in products like portable cameras, cordless power tools, remote controls, toys and household appliances (such as electric toothbrushes and razors).

This excludes a battery too big to be hand-carried or a clearly automotive or industrial battery.

Q - Are batteries dangerous?
A - Some batteries contain hazardous materials such as Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb), Lithium (Li) and Mercury (Hg). Although these are hazardous to the environment and can be dangerous to health, batteries are safe to handle if handled correctly. Please follow these simple instructions;

• Do not break open batteries. Dust particles released are hazardous.
• Do not allow batteries to get wet. For instance, Lithium will spontaneously combust if in contact with water.
• Do not expose batteries to excessive heat or fire. Batteries may explode in fire releasing toxic fumes
• Do not short out batteries (i.e. allow the positive and negative terminals of the batteries to touch). Sudden discharges may cause heat or fire.
• Do not mix dry batteries (sealed) with wet batteries (unsealed, such as lead acid). Leaking acid can cause damage and is a risk to human health.
• Never use steel containers for storage. These can cause batteries to short out suddenly causing a fire or react with acids to create hazardous fumes. Always use properly labeled plastic containers.

Please see our online battery section for a selection of batteries to buy now.