My Online Letter To Straits Times Forum...

Let's recycle batteries too

I APPLAUD the recent success of the Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) campaign launched by the National Environmental Agency.

While there are a thousand and one things we can do for the environment, I would like to suggest recycling another commonly-used item: Batteries.

Batteries may cause a multitude of environmental and health problems, even more harmful than plastic bags.

These include polluting aquifers as the heavy metals vaporise into the air when burned and exposing the environment to lead and strong corrosive acid.

These problems are not to be scoffed at, especially with the huge number of batteries used per year. Moreover, with Singaporeans' (and the world) penchant for all things tech, the problems posed by batteries are real.

In 1996, the Battery Act was signed into US law to address two fundamental issues according to the Environmental Protection Agency: To phase out the use of mercury in batteries and to provide proper collection/recycling amenities for the disposal of batteries.

Last year, GP Batteries came down to my school, selling rechargeable batteries and giving away new batteries in exchange for old ones.

I feel that this is a good effort on its part and I hope that this can be extended to the wider community, with battery-recycling bins in major supermarkets.

I hope that the NEA will consider my suggestions and perhaps work with battery manufacturers in the proper recycling of batteries.

Brian Ho Tze Yew