battery recycling (in France)

A while ago I wrote about battery recycling, I drew the sad conclusion that although batteries are a dense source of heavy metals, the industry in the UK does not regard this as an issue. There are no or minimal battery recycling facilities in the UK, the majority end up in domestic waste, the bulk of which is incinerated or buried.
So on a recent trip to France, I was surprised to see containers marked "piles" (french for batteries) on the SeaFrance boats and in the supermarkets we visited. The French seem to see it as a much greater issue, than we do in this country. So the next trip I make to France I'll be bring the bag of used batteries sitting in the kitchen and leaving them in France. It is little effort and means that now I can recycle paper, card, some plastic, glass, aluminum and tin cans. Organic matter goes in the compost bin and the only waste we create is dairy products, meat scraps, stale bread and other starches (they do not compost well) and various plastic wrappings.