Cyprus Mail 17 February 2020 - article by Annette Chrysostomou
People should use special bins provided by non-profit organisation AFIS Cyprus to recycle their batteries, the organisation said on the occasion of Battery Day, marked every year on February 18.
“The special bins are located in electrical stores, supermarket, shopping malls, department stores, schools, public buildings, bank branches and generally in areas where a lot of people are present,” the AFIS announcement said.
February 18 is the birthday of Italian Alexander Volta, who invented the battery in 1800.
Each year, the European Union imports about 800,000 tonnes of car batteries, 190,000 tonnes of industrial batteries and 160,000 tonnes of consumer batteries.
“Despite their usefulness, a large number of these batteries contain hazardous materials such as lead, cadmium, mercury, nickel, cobalt, chromium, vanadium, lithium, manganese and zinc, as well as acid or alkaline electrolytes and also contain significant amounts of electrolytes of important raw materials,” AFIS warned.
“As a result, uncontrolled disposal of batteries poses both a great health and environmental hazard and a significant waste of valuable material resources.”
People who want to find the closest bin can download the free mobile application “RECYCLING CY” or access the AFIS website www.afiscyprus.com.cy.
