Never Bin Batteries
Our Never Bin Batteries campaign aims to show how throwing batteries in the bin can cause fires. We want to help people recycle them responsibly.
Every year in the UK we throw away around 600 million batteries. But if they’re disposed in the right way they will be recycled and their materials used to make something new.
Batteries cannot be recycled through your bin at home. They need to be put in a battery bin. In the Wakefield district, you'll find them in public buildings and most supermarkets. You can also take batteries to the Household Waste Recycling Centre, along with used electrical items.
Take charge. Please don’t put batteries or electrical items that contain batteries into any of your bins. This includes e-cigarettes or vapes, even those marked ‘disposable’.
As rubbish is processed it gets crushed. If a battery gets damaged it can cause a fire, either in the bin wagon or at the waste treatment facility.
On average, there are nine battery fires every month at our South Kirkby recycling facility.
To see what can happen in waste facilities when batteries are put in household rubbish or recycling bins, watch this video on YouTube.
Fires put our staff at risk and damage equipment. They also put extra pressure on the fire service, as often they’re called out to attend.
Batteries are hidden inside many everyday electrical items, including:
- vapes
- electric toothbrushes
- shavers
- mobile phones
- laptops
- electric scooters
- children’s toys
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service support our Never Bin Batteries campaign.
Watch what happened in one home in West Yorkshire when the battery of an electric motorbike caught fire. Battery fires are ferocious and spread quickly, giving people less time to escape.
Read West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s advice for using batteries safely.
How to recycle batteries and electricals
Electricals contain precious materials like gold and copper which are lost forever when thrown away.
Anything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled and turned into something new.
Electrical waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the UK, and the world. If your electricals are beyond repair, always recycle them.
Remember: if you can charge it up, it contains a battery. Items like this should be recycled as electrical waste.
Tip: Keep separate bags or boxes at home for old batteries or electrical items, then take them with you on your next trip to the recycling centre.
Use our handy map to find your nearest battery or electrical recycling point - just click on an icon for more details on the location. Remember that as well as all these places, you should be able to find battery bins at your local supermarket.
You can also search for your nearest recycling point using your postcode.
Most of our electrical recycling points have been funded by Material Focus’s Electricals Recycling Fund. In full, these locations are:
- Ackworth Co-op
- Castleford, Lock Lane sports centre
- Featherstone Rovers rugby ground
- Featherstone, The Travellers Rest
- Glasshoughton Asda
- Glasshoughton HWRC
- Hemsworth Tesco
- Horbury, Cluntergate car park
- Knottingley, Kellingley Social Club
- Normanton B and M
- Ossett Co-op
- Pontefract Morrisons
- Ryhill sports and social club
- South Elmsall, Minsthorpe leisure centre
- South Kirkby HWRC
- Upton Arms
- Wakefield Asda
- Wakefield HWRC
- Wakefield Morrisons, Dewsbury Road
- Wakefield, St Michaels House
- West Bretton Memorial Hall