The environmental department has only managed to distribute 80 of 5,000 used-battery collection bins to area hotels since the programme was launched in August, reports Guangzhou Daily.

The department planned to set up used-battery collection stations at 68 hotels with ratings of three stars or higher in a move to control the environmental hazard discarded batteries create. But only 15 hotels participated.

Managers of the other hotels said the collection bins were of no use because "few customers left behind used-batteries".

And used batteries were rarely found in hazardous rubbish bins on the street either.

Of the 300 kilograms of used batteries amassed in the past few months, 210 kilograms were collected from university campuses.

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