He wants tax on disposable batteries; incandescent light bulbs and plastic bags, making people pay 1 a battery, 5 a bulb and 10p a bag.

The new system has the potential to do away with mountains of disposable batteries and miles of wiring which power many electronic devices.

For example, disposable batteries often use a zinc can both as a reactant and as the container to hold the other reagents.

Rechargeable batteries have a lower total cost of use and environmental impact than disposable batteries.

Traditional radio, although widespread, relied on an electrical supply or the availability of disposable batteries - both of which were in short supply across the continent.