Sainsbury's offers joint collection of light-bulbs and batteries at stores across the country

(05/02/2010)

New legislation means that from 1st February all retailers are required to provide portable battery recycling. Sainsbury’s has partnered with Recolight to provide a unique recycling facility at stores across the country for the co-collection of energy-saving light bulbs and portable batteries.

The nationwide scheme makes Sainsbury’s the first retailer to offer the joint collection of light-bulbs and batteries; following a successful pilot in late 2009, the scheme has been rolled out across 200 of Sainsbury’s larger stores nationwide.

Commenting on the announcement, Sainsbury’s environmental affairs manager, Jack Cunningham, said “We’re going a step further than most retailers by offering to recycle energy-saving bulbs in addition to batteries. People want to recycle light bulbs but are often unsure of where the nearest recycling facilities are. Our recycling points will be visible to millions of customers every week, and we hope that this will help to increase recycling rates in the UK.”

Consumers can currently recycle end-of-life energy-saving light bulbs at any of the country’s 1,100 civic amenity sites. However, this partnership is an important step in providing consumers with a wider range of options to make recycling low energy light bulbs as easy as possible. By combining the collection of two waste streams, Recolight can use the same transport infrastructure for both products, helping to reduce CO2 emissions.

Recolight Chief Executive Nigel Harvey said “Recolight is a not for profit organisation dedicated to maximising the recycling of fluorescent tubes which includes energy-saving light bulbs. We have already had considerable success keeping commercial lamps out of landfill. Working with Sainsbury’s will help us to significantly increase the number of consumer lamps that are recycled. Research has indicated that consumers will recycle energy-saving light bulbs if they have access to suitable drop off points. Sainsbury’s stores provide an excellent location for these joint collections.”

The scheme uses specially designed collection containers, placed at the recycling areas of larger stores. All light bulbs and batteries collected will be sent for recycling at approved treatment facilities.

Commenting on the initiative Defra Environment Minister, Dan Norris, said; “Using energy efficient bulbs saves energy, saves carbon and saves money, and I’m delighted to hear that Sainsbury’s and Recolight are taking the lead with this initiative to make it easier for people to recycle their bulbs when they come to the end of their long life. I very much hope that other retailers will see that this makes good sense for consumers and follow suit.”

Related categories:  Lamps