Duracell MN 1500 Alkaline

With a market share of around 52%, Duracell is the UK’s biggest retailer of household batteries. Renowned for those ‘bunny’ adverts (that either entertain you or drive you up the wall) the brand has always positioned itself based on the fact that it lasts longer than any other. Given that you buy batteries to ‘make something work’ this seems like a reasonable proposition. The alkaline batteries featured here are, in fact, not marketed as the best batteries that Durcacell offer; that accolade goes to Duracell Ultra, which has a combines better conductive elements, with more active ingredients, to ensure that it lasts the longest.

Alkaline batteries like this brand (so-called because the core electrolyte is alkaline rather than acidic) have a longer shelf life than zinc carbon batteries of the same size. Whilst both types produce a charge of approximately 1.5 volts, the alkaline battery lasts longer due to its higher energy density (that is the amount of energy stored in the cell). Silver oxide batteries (commonly used in watches or calculators) have a higher energy density again, but tend to be more expensive. This size of battery (formerly known as MN1500, now generally known as AA) is arguably the most common battery sold in the UK. Most cameras take this size of battery, for example, but a host of common household items (clocks, toys, games) also use these batteries, and most supermarket battery ranges are dominated by the AA size.

The Price Is Right?

Compared to ‘basic’ batteries, the Duracell AA is more expensive.

In Tesco, for example:

• 4 Tesco Value batteries will cost you 99p – 25p each.
• 4 Duracell batteries will cost you £2.49 – 62p each – more than double the cost
• 4 Energiser Ultra batteries (the old Ever Ready brand) will, however, cost you £2.89 – 72p each (nearly three times more than the Tesco Value batteries)

Both the Duracell and Energiser batteries are alkaline – the Tesco Value brand is a zinc carbon battery, hence the lower price. All three brands produce a charge of 1.5 volts.

I’ve Got The Power

It’s easy to recognise that Duracell batteries last longer than the cheaper, own brand ones, often by quite a significant amount. Many of my niece's and nephews' toys at Christmas, for example, required AA batteries, and with a lot of intensive play over a couple of days, it was clear that the cheaper batteries gave up the ghost far sooner. Indeed, the cheaper batteries (which were Tesco Value) showed signs of failing quite quickly. Lights on games (and in a torch) started to flicker or grow dimmer within a day or so, whereas the Duracell batteries that replaced them (or were used in other products) remained far brighter and more reliable.

Of course, the challenge here is whether the price tag matches this duration, (i.e. – if you pay 2-3 times the price, do you get 2-3 times the duration?) In my experience, the answer is almost certainly yes. Indeed, I have a small waterproof torch that I keep in case of a power cut, which the children love to play with during late night games of hide and seek. The power of the beam is far brighter with branded batteries like Duracell, and even a new pair of Tesco Value batteries didn’t last very long when the torch was accidentally left on. But their Duracell equivalents managed to last out a period of 12 hours plus and (to me at least) the torch still seemed brighter than when it had ever been powered by the cheaper Value batteries.

This issue of reliability is enormously important, when you consider that some safety devices like household smoke alarms require AA batteries, and whilst they should warn you (with a beeping noise) you really don’t want them to just run out. I find that with Duracell there is a gradual decline in power rather than the sort of rapid stutter and fail that you get with cheap batteries like the Tesco Value ones. Also, some of the cheaper batteries don’t seem to work from the outset. With the aforementioned Value batteries, I bought a pack of 4, only 2 of which actually seemed to carry any power at all. I’ve also noted that you can leave unused Duracell batteries in a drawer and they always seem perfect from the outset. There’s a noticeable deterioration in older Value batteries, which don’t seem to last very well at all.

Disposable vs Rechargeable

Of course, shrewd consumers are increasingly turning to rechargeable batteries to try and avoid these problems, whilst simultaneously saving the planet. The manufacturing process used to make batteries is extremely energy/resource intensive and to then simply dispose of them is inherently very wasteful. The energy needed to manufacture one battery is fifty times more than the energy it eventually produces.

Duracell also manufacture a range of rechargeable alkaline batteries. For around £10, you can purchase a pack of four rechargeable AA batteries (and you’ll also need to pay £10 for the charging unit that goes with it.) I was intrigued to notice how unpopular this initial outlay was on a recent visit to a supermarket. The complete range of AA batteries was entirely sold out, but there were plenty of rechargeable batteries and chargers, seemingly overpriced for the average consumer. Disposable batteries are largely false economy. The rechargeable batteries might cost four times more the disposable ones, but the fact remains that you easily get more than four times the usage out of them, and you create far less waste.

But what of that waste?

Battery Recycling

We have a shameful record when it comes to recycling disposable batteries in this country. As far back as 1991, legislation was introduced that mandated that disposable batteries were to be collected separately from household waste, for the purposes of recycling. All this was again updated in 1998 (to include new types of battery) but recycling rates are still very poor. An enormous percentage of these batteries just end up in landfill sites, where they leak toxic chemicals back into the soil and take forever to degrade.

Battery recycling facilities now exist in many household waste sites, but there aren't many local authorities that will actually collect them for recycling and it is estimated that only 0.5 to 2% of battery waste is recycled. Despite the developments in the manufacturing process and the fact that the Duracell disposable batteries last longer than others, they still aren’t a very environmentally friendly option.

The trouble is that many users of rechargeable batteries are not really getting the best out of the concept. It’s very easy, for example, to overcharge batteries, which significantly reduces their life. Like most people, I’m quite sure that I leave things on charge far longer than I need to. It’s important to try and ensure that the battery is as fully discharged (flat) as possible before you charge it as the process works best when the unit is charged from nothing up to maximum power. But even this can backfire. If you leave a flat rechargeable battery in a device that is still switched on, the polarity of the battery will eventually reverse, and you won’t be able to charge it up again.

It’s not quite as simple as ‘just use rechargeable batteries’ either. 80% of rechargeable batteries contain a chemical called cadmium, which is known to be carcinogenic in humans. Moves to ban the chemical in the EC in 2001 were withdrawn as a result of pressure from the industry. Procter & Gamble (Duracell’s parent company) led this lobbying, and have continued to do so, even when a new ban was eventually implemented. Indeed, pressure from manufacturers has meant that the ban has only been partly implemented, even though the risks to human health are scientifically well documented.

Incidentally, Uniross rechargeable batteries are recommended by www.ethicalconsumer.org, due to the fact that they don’t contain cadmium. These are nickel metal hydride batteries, which, as well as being less toxic, actually have a longer life span. They’re actually not that much more expensive than the Duracell rechargeable batteries too – a pack of four costs £5.06 on www.amazon.co.uk

My favourite alternative, however, is this rechargeable battery unit from Moixa.

http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/product​s/moxia/usb-cell-batteries-rechargeable-​aa/

As well as being nickel metal hydride batteries, you don’t even need a separate charger unit for these babies, as the top pops off and provides a USB plug, meaning you can just charge them in existing appliances (like your TV or laptop). They are expensive (£10.00 for two) but offer the most environmentally conscious option out there.

Final Verdict

I think it would be wrong to recommend ANY brand of disposable batteries, simply because it is such a wasteful use of resources. If you are insistent that you only want to use disposable batteries, then the Duracell brand is probably one of the best, simply because they last longer. The cheap, economy brands are false economy – how can something really be four times cheaper if it only lasts a quarter of the time (or less)? These cheap batteries have a less sustainable composition, will be unreliable and won’t last anywhere near as long, meaning that you’re just being even more wasteful with resources.

The best thing to do is to go for rechargeable batteries, but even then, you need to look for the NiMH type of battery that doesn’t contain the cadmium carcinogen. Failing that, at least always ensure that you take your batteries to a recycling centre. Retailers and manufacturers of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) were, from 2007, legally obliged to pay for the return and recycling of this waste. That doesn’t mean you send it back to them of course. You need to find a local recycling centre (which you can do by entering your postcode at this website - http://www.recycle-more.co.uk/)

Get recycling! :OD

(Incidentally, if you go looking for the Duracell website, it has a slightly rubbish name - www.1duracell.co.uk. It would seem that a battery retailer was quick off the mark to steal the www.duracell.org.uk domain.)