Stop battery disposal into landfill; support battery collection stations in local communities

We have started this petition to lobby the battery industry to team up with the government to offer free battery recycling in local communities. We, the Mt Eden Village People, are a not-for-profit community group. Since 2009 we have provided a collection station in one of our local shops, Civic Video Mt Eden, for residents to deposit their used household batteries. Each week we collect around 8-15kg of batteries, which we drop off to the Sony store in Newmarket. The batteries we collect are sorted: Alkaline batteries go to landfill in a concrete container to prevent toxic leakage, and the remainder have metals extracted which are recycled. Although this is not the optimum solution, we see our project as encouraging people to change their habits, to buy reusable batteries and be aware that some batteries are toxic and cannot just be thrown in the bin. This all seemed to be going well, but because of the enthusiasm and willingness of our community, the volumes collected became too much for Sony to continue accepting our deliveries. Interwaste provides recycling to Sony at a cost of $5.50 per kilogram. We have approached the Auckland Council and our local board to help find a solution but none has been found. On the 26 July 2012 we had to close our local battery collection station. We also would like to thank everyone who dropped off batteries for recycling at our collection station for the last 3 years.