Background Faced with an increasing amount of solid waste, with significant fluctuations throughout the year as a result of the tourist peak periods, the Region of Crete had made dealing with its waste management problem a high priority. Batteries in particular are a problem. As we use ever more portable electronic devices - mobiles, cameras, MP3 players, PDAs and so on – battery disposal is becoming an inceasingly important environmental challenge. Objectives The project management team – comprising the beneficiary, the Region of Crete; Terra Nova, an environmental consulting firm, and the University of Athens Laboratory of Meteorology – aimed to design and implement an integrated pilot collection and recycling programme for two particular waste streams - batteries and accumulators. The project was to be based on the specific needs of the area, and be viable and cost effective. Using this pilot project as a demonstration tool, an analysis of the performance of the project was to be carried out in order to demonstrate the applicability of such systems in areas similar to Crete, an island far from the mainland and with a great deal of tourism, significant economic activity, and a population of 600 000. Specifically, the project was to promote separate collection at the source (door-to-door and kerbside collection) and recycling of the problematic waste through the development of specific guidelines. Furthermore, an information campaign was to inform all stakeholders and increase their participation. The campaign was to target car service stations, retailers of accumulators, supermarkets and shops selling batteries, local authorities and the public at large. In addition, guidelines were to be developed for the implementation of similar systems across the whole of Crete and their promotion in the rest of Greece. Finally, the team was to produce a best practice guide, a website, a CD-ROM and organise a conference in order to disseminate the results of the project and promote similar recycling programmes. Results The collection and recycling scheme was designed and the equipment (bins and trucks) were purchased. All of the main sector stakeholders in Crete have been involved, and the Association of Municipalities agreed to be responsible for the collection. A contract was signed with AFIS, national alternative management system, for the collection of dry batteries, and the operation of an alternative collection and recycling scheme in Crete is supervised by an independent legal body, SEDIS-K, ensuring economic viability in the long term. The local battery collection scheme was granted a permit to collect and recycle accumulators by the Ministry of Environment in January 2006, and the storage facility is now receiving the battery and accumulator waste. The new separate collection and management system for accumulators managed to de-establish the then-existing illegal market of accumulators, which produced a very negative impact on the environment and on human health. This had been a result of a) improper storage, which had mainly been outdoors, b) collection and transportation by vans not meeting any safety regulations, and c) recycling by companies not possessing the appropriate licences. The new separate collection and management system for batteries managed to change a behaviour established for many years in the minds of the public. The majority of the public in Crete had not been aware of the impact caused by batteries and therefore had just discarded the batteries together with household waste. Even the minority that had been aware of the potential impact had had no alternative but to discard the batteries with the household waste, since no organised collection system existed. Additionally, the software tool developed within the project framework ensures monitoring of the operation and effectiveness of the collection and management system, thus facilitating corrective action, where necessary, in order to enhance collection and recycling rates. Environmental awareness regarding the proper use and management of batteries and accumulators was gradually established, both amongst stakeholders involved across the battery supply chain and the wider public, via a broadly instituted information campaign. This campaign also succeeded in informing the public that the environmentally sound management of waste is not a mere initiative, performed on a voluntary basis, but constitutes a necessity and an obligation for the protection of the environment and human health, based on relevant specific EU and national environmental legislation. In particular, the information campaign that took place in Cretan schools was very successful, with impressive collection rates achieved at the collection points located near schools. This aspect of the project is very important, as awareness amongst schoolchildren establishes a behaviour of habit rather than of voluntarism amongst individuals with regard to the future disposal of used batteries.