Waste Batteries Directive

Sparks rise in enquiries

For plastic pallet box




The new law, which comes into force in January 2010, requires battery manufacturers or a company appointed on their behalf, to collect used batteries from end users. These include commercial vehicle garages, car garages, scrap yards and civic amenity tips if requested.

Manufacturers are then obliged to take the batteries to an approved battery treatment centre or exporter for treatment and recycling.

Plastic pallet box specialist Dolav is seeing a flurry of enquiries for its products following the launch of new regulations on automotive battery disposal. Automotive battery manufacturers, waste management companies and recyclers have been talking to Dolav as they prepare to comply with the new Waste Batteries and Accumulators Directive.

Dolav, which has a 15-year track record in the automotive battery recycling industry, is confident it can assist waste battery handlers and recyclers as it has elsewhere in Europe.

"The new regulations will necessitate major investment to ensure producers - and the Battery Compliance Scheme operators - function legally. Finding the right containers to transport and store batteries will play a vital role in that process," says Dolav marketing manager Maria Plastow.

"Dolav has been involved in lead acid battery recycling for more than 15 years. Lead is valuable but dangerous in the wrong place and heavy. Sulphuric acid can be recovered safely provided it is handled with care."

Dolav's long life products, which have seen sales in the UK and Ireland hit the 400,000 mark over the past 30 years, are extensively engineered to withstand the tough world of materials handling container abuse in the recycling and industry.

"The heavy sectioned Dolav containers have very low built in stress because of the production process. Lower stress means higher impact resistance and less stress to be relieved by the searching nature of highly corrosive acids," says Maria Plastow.

"The runners on the Dolav containers are an integral part of the injection moulding process, not snap-in as on most lighter weight pallet boxes. This adds to strength and security when pallet boxes are mechanically handled and inverted to discharge contents. The Dolav containers are well within safely limits when moving the exceptionally heavy lead acid batteries.

"Future generations do not want to uncover contaminated ground or suffer from leaching of dangerous chemicals into our streams and rivers. Dolav can play its part in preventing this and making profits for the recyclers." More at: www.dolav-uk.co.uk