Battery prices may rise

CONSUMERS could end up paying extra for batteries under plans to recycle more electrical and electronic devices.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen launched a battery recycling scheme in Tullamore, Co Offaly, with shops stocking bins where consumers can drop off exhausted batteries.

The midlands scheme is being run as a trial for three months before the Government extends the initiative nationwide in the autumn.

In the summer, the Government will decide whether to slap a producer recycling fund (PRF) fee on the cost of batteries, which contain pollutants like mercury and hazardous chemicals. If the Government puts a levy on batteries then makers and importers will have to decide whether to absorb the levy or pass on the extra cost to consumers.

“We are in talks with the industry about how best to work this scheme nationally,” said Elizabeth O’Reilly from the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Ireland recycling firm. “We don’t know how many batteries are sold nationally, but we are talking millions and most end up in landfill sites.” She said the market for batteries was competitive so makers would absorb the cost of the PRF fee instead of hiking the price. Any PRF levy would add “cents and not euro” to the cost of a pack of batteries, she said.