At our school we’re concerned about the environment! That’s the reason why we’ve started a campaign, the APILO Mission (the Waste Agency of Catalonia), with our 1rst of ESO students to make us aware that wasted batteries are highly polluting if we fill them anywhere. If we do not recycle them, they can endanger the quality of the planet’s water, air and soil, which will directly affect the animals and plants that live there, and therefore, our health.
Last Thursday, January 13, a technician from the Waste Agency of Catalonia, Maria, visited our centre and told us what the Apilo Mission consists of and what advantages a campaign of this nature entails, and gave us a lot of information on the subject. First of all, we learned that 95% of the components of the batteries are recyclable, so it is worth the effort to make a selective separation to use their materials in new resources.
She gave us an example of good practice: Thanks to campaigns such as this one, in Catalonia, the Pont de Vilomara (Bages) Battery Recovery Center has managed to recycle 75% of the batteries that come onto the market. This is very good news, because it is a higher percentage than that established by European and state regulations, which indicated that from 2020, at least 50% must be recycled.
Moreover, she spoke about flora and food. We learned that some plants may contain pollutants that are not visible to the naked eye, but that if they were to enter the food chain and we consumed them, they would be highly toxic. Maria explained the case of a plant that had grown in a soil with a component (magnesium compound) that is found in the batteries. The plant had absorbed it and, although its external appearance had not changed, the plant was contaminated and was highly toxic.
In conclusion, it became clear to us that we have to be very careful with batteries! The information the technician gave us confirmed that we have many reasons to start a campaign to collect used batteries at the school to avoid polluting our environment. This way we’ll make sure that they reach the Waste Agency of Catalonia and are recycled properly. We will have helped to maintain and improve recycling in our territory.
The slogan is very simple: Think globally, act locally!
