Consumers across the UK are being urged to join the fight against 'Zombie batteries' in a bid to tackle the growing number of fires caused by carelessly discarded dead batteries.

Cumbria County Council supports the new national Take Charge campaign, which urges consumers to only recycle dead batteries using specialist battery recycling services, and to never throw batteries away alongside general rubbish or other recycling.

Cumbrian residents can take their dead batteries for recycling to the recycling points in local shops, or to any of the county’s 14 Household Waste Recycling Centres.

Most shops that sell batteries have a battery recycling point and it means your batteries will be recycled responsibly.

Dead batteries thrown away with other waste and recycling, which the campaign refers to as “zombie batteries,” are likely to be crushed or punctured once the waste is collected and processed. Some battery types in particular, like lithium-ion (Li-ion) and nickel-metal Hydride (NiMH), can ignite or even explode when they are damaged.

Cumbria County Council cabinet member for environment, Councillor Celia Tibble, said: "Not only will this avoid damage and disruption to our vital waste services, it will also ensure more of Cumbria’s valuable resources go for recycling.”

Visit www.takecharge.org.uk