Working together: Environmental Protection Department Deputy Director Dr Michael Chiu and guests officiate at the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Programme's second anniversary ceremony.

The Environmental Protection Department's Rechargeable Battery Recycling Programme has met the 10% recovery target of used rechargeable batteries.

Environmental Protection Department Deputy Director Dr Michael Chiu said today that the department's next two-year goal is to meet a recycling target of 15% to 20% in 2009.

Speaking at the programme's second anniversary ceremony, Dr Chiu said about 40 tonnes of rechargeable batteries, equivalent to 600,000 pieces, have been collected since the programme launched in 2005.

Twenty-six tonnes of rechargeable batteries have already been recovered and shipped to a designated treatment facility in South Korea for recycling.

"It is encouraging to see that 38 producers and importers of rechargeable batteries have joined the programme. Six companies - Acer Computer (Far East), Amytel Asia, Chevalier, Crown Motors, Dell Hong Kong and Microsoft Hong Kong - joined the programme for the first time," Dr Chiu said, thanking the companies for providing funding and supporting the programme.

He appealed to the public to continue recycling used rechargeable batteries. Cobalt, nickel, cadmium and other metals will be recovered from the batteries during the recycling process and sold for re-use as stainless-steel materials, magnetic alloy and cadmium-battery materials.

The programme is a voluntary producer responsibility scheme, under which producers, importers, retailers and consumers share the responsibility in recovering rechargeable batteries for recycling.