Why batteries & UPS need specialist handling
Batteries and UPS systems are classified as hazardous waste — and lithium-ion in particular carries real fire and environmental risk if it’s stored, transported or processed incorrectly. They can’t go out with general WEEE. They need careful handling, the right documentation, and a licensed treatment route. As an Environment Agency licensed hazardous-waste carrier, that’s exactly what we provide.
What we handle
We can remove batteries and UPS alongside your IT in a single visit – see Secure Business IT Asset Disposal.
Why choose Surplex?
The 3-step removal process
Consignment notes, filed automatically
Every destruction and erasure record lands in the Surplex Portal — certificates, serial-level reports and ESG data, available 24/7 and ready for audit.
Reports
A complete, audit-ready trail. Automatically every hazardous-waste consignment note, transfer note and carbon record is filed in your Surplex Portal as the job completes – available 24/7 and ready for audit.
Value-offset pricing
Material value that offsets your removal costs Where batteries and UPS units hold recoverable material value, our open-book value-offset model puts it towards the cost of safe removal and treatment.
Compliance we can prove, not just promise
Every collection comes with a complete, audit-ready paper trail – certificates of data destruction, serial-level reporting, WEEE evidence notes and ESG data, all available in your portal. Our secure facilities include a BS EN 1143-1 rated strong room, and data is destroyed to NIST 800-88 standards. We’re ISO 14001 certified, ICO registered, an Environment Agency licensed waste carrier, and JOSCAR & FSQS registered.
Trusted in the sectors where compliance can’t slip
How we handle hazardous waste, and to which standards
Who we work with, and the licences we hold
Frequently asked questions
Navigating the complexities of environmental duty of care and industrial hazardous waste management requires more than basic freight collection; it requires specialized technical precision. We have compiled strategic answers regarding our ADR-vetted logistics, hazardous waste consignment workflows, and ISO 14001 material recovery standards. Our goal is to provide the transparency and regulatory compliance your organisation requires to safely decommission critical power systems.
Yes. Both lead-acid standby batteries and lithium-ion UPS packs are legally classified as hazardous waste in the UK.
Moving them without an Environment Agency hazardous waste consignment note and ADR-licensed transport is illegal. Surplex UK Limited holds both and completes the consignment paperwork for every collection, so the duty of care sits with a licensed carrier rather than with your facilities team.
Surplex UK Limited produces a full audit trail for every collection, available at any time in the Surplex Portal.
- WEEE waste transfer notes, the legal proof of compliant disposal
- A certificate of destruction against each device serial number
- Asset inventory reports carrying make, model, serial number and specification
- Scope 3 carbon and landfill-diversion figures for your ESG reporting
Modern UPS units are connected devices, and their network management cards store internal IP addresses, server paths and system passwords.
Discarded without being cleared, one of those cards hands over a map of your network. Surplex UK Limited removes them and secures them in the BS EN 1143-1 strong room for certified destruction before the metal is recycled.
ISO 14001:2015 certification means the environmental process of Surplex UK Limited is independently audited.
For battery disposal that assures toxic materials such as lead and acid are separated, neutralised and recycled into new manufacturing streams, and it gives your sustainability auditors a verified trail for Scope 3 reporting.
Yes. Surplex UK Limited does the lifting. You do not need to dismantle batteries or move heavy modules.
The team handles the electrical disconnection checks, unbolting steel frames, lifting safely out of server rooms and loading into hazardous waste containment drums.
Backup batteries are heavy and rich in industrial metals such as lead and copper, which carry real value at the refinery.
Surplex UK Limited routes those materials straight back into the refining supply chain, and the value recovered pays for the on-site removal labour, the heavy transport and the legal consignment paperwork. On a large refresh the collection is usually free.
Most customers find their collection is free. Surplex UK Limited works on an open-book value-offset model with no minimum quantity, so the value recovered from your redundant equipment is set against the cost of collection, treatment and recycling. Batteries and UPS units carry handling requirements under ADR that ordinary IT hardware does not, so where the recovered value does not cover the work a small logistics and processing fee is payable, quoted and agreed upfront.
