‘Batteries for Barretstown' is aimed at increasing awareness of battery recycling while raising much-needed funds for the children’s charity.

The partnership, in association with Lidl Ireland, hopes to energise consumers in their approach to battery recycling.

1130 tonnes of batteries were recycled in Ireland in 2016 – 57% of all batteries placed on the market in Ireland – equivalent to over 45 million AA batteries

Dublin, Tuesday, 29th, August 2017: European Recycling Platform (ERP) Ireland is Powering Positivity at Barretstown in a new three-year initiative, ‘Batteries for Barretstown,’ aimed at increasing awareness of battery recycling and raising much-needed funds for the children’s charity Barretstown.

The Powering Positivity partnership hopes to energise consumers in their approach to battery recycling by providing new branded waste battery collection points in Lidl stores nationwide; facilitating increased numbers of batteries recycled and raising vital funds for Barretstown’s camps for children and families affected by serious illness simultaneously.  Batteries can also be recycled free of charge in any retail store selling batteries, in schools, libraries, civic amenity sites or at one of ERP’s free recycling events held across the country and all batteries collected will contribute towards the initiative.

Speaking at the launch of ‘Batteries for Barretstown’, CEO of ERP, Martin Tobin said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Lidl and Barretstown on the ‘Batteries for Barretstown’, Powering Positivity initiative. The message in this campaign is a hugely positive one, which we hope will drive people to dispose of their waste batteries in an environmentally conscious way, whilst raising funds for a worthy children’s charity. Each year in Ireland thousands of batteries are disposed of in standard domestic waste, and we hope to raise awareness of the ease by which they can be recycled by facilitating collection in local Lidl stores.  Batteries can also be recycled free of charge in any retail stores selling batteries, at your local recycling centre or at one of ERP’s free recycling events held across the country.”

Commenting on the new joint initiative, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Lidl Ireland, Deirdre Ryan, said: “Lidl Ireland has been actively moving towards a more sustainable and environmentally conscious business model and has also had a long-standing partnership with Barretstown having raised €1.8 million to date, as such we are delighted to support ‘Batteries for Barretstown’ and to be involved in Powering Positivity over the next three years. This partnership with ERP allows us to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability and to contribute to the Barretstown camps. There is an onus on consumers and on businesses to be more environmentally conscious and we hope that the campaign will encourage our shoppers to think about their habits and to dispose of their batteries in a sustainable way by dropping them into the collection points available in our stores.”

Launching the ‘Batteries for Barretstown’ campaign, Barretstown’s CEO Dee Ahearn said:

“‘Batteries for Barretstown’ battery recycling campaign is a very exciting project for us and we are thrilled to be involved in helping to motivate people to become more environmentally aware and to change their battery recycling habits. The commitment to Powering Positivity at Barretstown, is enormously important to us in providing facilities for our campers and for their families, and we are very excited about the positive energy being generated by the campaign.”

Notes to editor:

ERP:

European Recycling Platform (ERP) was founded in 2002 as the first pan-European organisation to implement the European Union’s regulations on the recycling of electrical and electronic waste (WEEE Directive). ERP now manages a consolidated network and has developed vast international expertise, expanding its recycling services to include batteries as well as packaging.

European Recycling Platform Ireland DAC was established in 2005 as a result of the success and expansion of ERP across Europe. They are Ireland’s only pan-European compliance scheme, providing WEEE and Waste Battery compliance and a B2B service to members.

In 2016, ERP collected 318 tonnes or 52% of all batteries placed on the market in Ireland by their members far exceeding the 45% target.  This incredible achievement represents a 56.6% increase on 2015 figures.

 

Barretstown Camps:

Barretstown offers free, specially designed camps and programmes for children and their families living with a serious illness – supported behind the scenes by 24-hour on site medical and nursing care.

All of the children and their families attend Barretstown free of charge. Everything is provided onsite, including accommodation, food and medical assistance, and all are provided at no cost to the families.

Barretstown is supported by donations and by the fundraising efforts of corporate supporters, individuals and community groups.

Barretstown is recognised as a centre of excellence in childhood cancer care and other serious illnesses. Children are referred to Barretstown based on their medical needs.