Boosting kerbside battery collections
Initiating a pilot awareness campaign in Bristol
- #InTheLoop
- Slow Threads
- #ElectricAvenue
- ZAP
- Fit for reuse
- Recycle Week
- Boosting kerbside battery collections
- Every Can Counts
- E-waste amnesty
- Ribena consumer awareness video
- Metal recycling campaign
- School recycling workshops
Getting the message onto doormats
In May 2019 Ecosurety partnered with Bristol Waste Company to undertake a new trial intervention campaign with 4,000 households located in different areas of Bristol.
The purpose of the campaign was to assess if we could increase the amount of waste batteries recycled at kerbside, and reduce the number of those disposed of in general waste bins or stored in cupboards and drawers in homes.
Interestingly, Bristol Waste Company already collected waste batteries put out by residents with their weekly collections, however the amount collected was relatively low indicating poor levels of awareness. A leaflet and five paper recycling bags were delivered to each household in the trial to see if this simple reminder would make an impact.
Find out more about Bristol Waste Company
The problem of hoarded batteries
Previous research undertaken by Ecosurety has shown that an estimated 178 million used batteries are hoarded in UK homes, with less than half of those placed on the market each year collected for recycling.
We have tried various awareness campaigns over the years including #BringBackHeavyMetal, this time we partnered with Bristol Waste Company to communicate directly with households who have kerbside collections of used batteries.
Find out more about our previous research and campaigns
4,000 participating households
Two areas of Bristol representing 4,000 households in total, Lawrence Weston and Westbury-upon-Trym (pictured), received the leaflet and recycling bags reminder through their letter box.
Coverage in local and BBC News also helped to amplify the message across the whole city. The results of weekly kerbside battery collections were closely monitored both during and long after the campaign to assess the impact.
117% increase in collection rates
The leaflet drop had a significant impact on the next weekly recycling collection in the targeted areas, with Bristol Waste reporting a 117% increase of collected waste batteries, more than double the usual amount (circled red on the chart).
Over the seven months after the campaign was delivered, the target areas were still reporting an impressive increase in battery collections of 26% – a fantastic legacy from one leaflet drop.
Learning and next steps
Bristol Waste Company continue to monitor the collection rates of batteries in the two areas that received the trial campaign. By comparing these results to previous collection data, and data from other areas, it will be possible to calculate the long-term impact of the campaign.
From this small-scale campaign we have learned a lot about the effects of raising citizen awareness.
We are looking at initiating similar small-scale campaigns to learn more about how to effectively influence household behaviour with the purpose of sharing publicly our learnings, so that other cities and local authorities can introduce and effectively promote battery collections at kerbside to their citizens.
In this way we can make a significant step towards improving the UK recycling rate of batteries, diverting more harmful metals from polluting our environment.
