USBCELL is a revolutionary award-winning new rechargeable AA battery. As the name suggests these new eco-friendly batteries can be recharged via any USB port.

USBCELL can be used in any device that requires AA batteries. Simply open the cap at the positive end to reveal the connector and plug them into any spare USB slot on your PC, laptop, monitor or even an XBOX or PS3. They even have an LED light that indicates when they are fully charged.

These USB batteries are extremely handy and in the long run will save you lots of money. They are also great for the environment as they will save energy by not needing a charging cradle plugged into the wall and will help to reduce the number of alkaline batteries that are disposed of incorrectly each year.

Eco-friendly USBCELL Battery won the 2007 National Energy Efficiency Awards for consumer products.

A pair of USB AA rechargeable batteries can be purchased from Nigel’s Eco Store for just £10.99.

Buy USBCELL batteries here

The investigation will examine the financial incentives used in each borough to promote recycling, the methods used to manage waste and London resident’s attitudes towards recycling.

In 2008/2009, London’s recycling rates were amongst the lowest in the UK with only 29% of waste being recycled or composted correctly. Its hoped that the investigation will help to improve recycling rates in the future and also help reveal the impediments to using waste as a resource.

According to figures from the Environment Department, the London borough of Newham got the lowest household recycling rate of just 15.4% in 2008/2009 whilst the best performing council was Bexley with a rate of 50.25%. According to the figures 4 other London boroughs got over 40% and nine more got over 30%.

Under the new code of practice, mobile recyclers will have to check the National Mobile Phone Register when they receive a mobile. The National Mobile Phone Register is connected to three databases which include a Police database of stolen phones, a reporting system called Immobilise and a database of blocked handsets. Companies will also have to record the date and time a phones is received, a brief description, the IMEI number, the name and address of the seller and the date when they checked the National databases.

Any mobile recyclers that don’t follow the new code of practice could face sanctions. Up to now around 20 UK mobile recycling companies have signed up which represents about 90% of the industry.

Its estimated that around 100,000 old mobiles phones with an average value of £50 each have been sent in for recycling in the past. According to the Police around 10,000 mobile handsets are stolen per month with 2/3’s of victims being teenagers aged thirteen to sixteen.

Of the people in the survey 90% of them said that although they recycled paper, cans and bottles at home only half of them would consider recycling on holiday. 1 in 5 people even said that they wouldn’t consider the environment at all whilst they are abroad.

A new national campaign ‘make holidays greener’ is being run by The Travel Foundation to try and make people aware of the environment whilst they are away like they are at home. Ideas that will be promoted to tourists include shopping in local markets, not having towels washed everyday and taking short showers.

A third of respondents in the poll said accommodation abroad did not provide information about how to protect the environment whilst there. People also said that they were confused about what is meant by green or sustainable travel.

The video follows a 12 year old as he uses batteries in his toy car, when they have run out he takes them to school so they can be recycled correctly. Once he has handed them in they are taken to recycling centre in France for the materials to be harvested and recycled. Its estimated that half of all toys in the UK require batteries so by providing battery recycling drop off points in schools is a great way to teach kids to protect the environment.

Battery collection points are already being used at schools in Glasgow, Ayrshire, Cornwall, London, Kent, Richmond and Berkshire.

Scott Butler, General Manager of ERP said that children are some of the biggest users of batteries in the UK.

The video can be found here along with teaching material and a free collection box.

The island will help clean up the area, create a new home for local climate refugees and help re-use toxic ocean dumped plastics. It will be developed by innovative architectural company WHIM and will become a floating eco tourist destination complete with buildings, beaches and farms.

Once completed the new island will be the ultimate in eco-tourism with 4 thousand square miles of plastic land for communities to live on.

The developers say that the main aspect to making the project possible is that seaweed must be cultivated as a means of food and medicine. Seaweed will also provide a habitat for local wildlife and help to absorb CO2 that is produced on the new island.

The new recycling facility is expected to save tax payers up too as much as £320m as the government has just started to fine local councils for throwing rubbish into landfill sites.

Many residents, campaigners and even local parish councillors have pleaded with the council to reject the proposal which is the biggest contract ever awarded in North Yorkshire. However the scheme has been approved after council officials stressed that maintaining any current waste management schemes was no longer an option after the government announcement that they would raise landfill tax.

The new incinerator will be built in Allerton near Harrogate and will create 70 new jobs. The new facility will allow local councils to hit 50% waste recycling targets by 2020.

Many new technologies will be used at the plant including a mechanical sorting machine and an anaerobic digestion system for food waste which will produce green energy for local use. There will also be a thermal treatment plant which will use waste to make thermal energy to power 40,000 homes in the local area.

There are currently many questions being asked about the amount of publicity needed to encourage the general public to recycle more batteries. The coalition government is cutting back on publicity campaigns with Defra’s Christmas 2009 campaign being its 1st and last. Unfortunately many battery schemes look like they will have to promote on their own with only a little support from retailers.

Battery recycling rules started on January 1st 2010 and require battery distributors / retailers to collect 10% of the batteries they put out on the market in 2009. The figures that have been collected for the first quarter of this year as being seen as tricky to base forecasts on how the rest of the year will turn out. However some in the sector think that the chances of the UK hitting the targets that have been set by the EU batteries directive is increasing unlikely.

Batteries Project Manager at the Environment Agency, Bob Mead said “I am not disappointed by the figures. One set of data is insufficient to make predictions for the year.” He added “The government in its impact assessment suggested historic recycling rates of 2-3% a year for portable batteries, so 8% in the first quarter of 2010 can’t be a bad start.”

In order to mark this week’s Recycle Week the council in Wandsworth will make its environmental experts available to answer recycling questions from the public. People in the area can use this opportunity to find out about the advantages of recycling electrical devices which include environmental benefits and helping them to earn extra money.

People who choose to recycle their old mobile phones and other small electrical devices will be in a much better position to upgrade to the latest models.

In order to make recycling easier in the area Wandsworth Borough Council have also recently been awarded a £5 million recycling fund to improve and create new recycling in flats and other high rise buildings.

Recycle your old mobile phones here

The aim of Recycle Week is too make people think about the many easy ways that we all can recycle less waste and make more of the current resources we all have.

Many people in the UK admit to hanging onto old electronic devices even if they no longer have a use for them. A recent survey found that 40% of respondents hang onto old electronic devices as they feel too sad to part with them, 41% hope that the old item might come in handy one day, 23% said that electrical items are too valuable to thrown away and 29% keep them because they don’t know how to dispose of them correctly.

In schools across the whole of England, Recycle Now is working with the British Heart Foundation to make it easy for pupils to dig out unused electronic devices and donate them to a good cause.

If you have any small electrical items such as kettles, electric toothbrushes, hair-dryers, toasters or even unused power tools then dig them out and support Recycle Week 2010 by taking them too your local British Heart Foundation Store, where you can donate them and help raise money for charity. Other small and more valuable electrical devices such as laptops, mobile phones, MP3 players and SAT NAVS can be recycled for cash payments at popular recycling sites including Mirror Go Green or Mopay.