Call2Recycle’s Battery Recycling Program Increases 5% in 2015, Breaks Records

by | Jan 19, 2016

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call2recycleRechargeable batteries and cellphones collected for recycling via Call2Recycle’s program increased five percent during 2015, to a record-breaking 12.6 million pounds – the 19th consecutive year-over-year increase, the organization says. Call2Recycle attributes the increase in participation to enhanced awareness in Canada and the US, made possible by its “strong, collaborative relationships.”

Call2Recycle ensures that rechargeable batteries and other items, which contain valuable resources, are responsibly recycled to create new batteries and other products, keeping potentially hazardous materials from entering the waste stream.

For more than 20 years, Call2Recycle has striven to minimize the environmental impact of products through leading the charge on responsible disposal and recycling. The organization has developed partnerships with a wide network of industry stewards (battery and product manufacturers), thousands of retailers, and municipalities to make collecting and recycling batteries free and easy for consumers.

The connection between awareness and participation is clear: states and provinces with strong participation and commitment from retailers and municipalities have greater collection results. In the US, 7.1-million pounds of batteries were collected in 2015. The Great Lake states and mountain regions saw the most growth, at 12% and 11% respectively. California also reached a significant milestone, collecting more than 1-million pounds (4.5-million kilograms) of batteries for the 5th consecutive year.

Call2Recycle now has close to 30,000 collection locations across North America: today, more than 90% of residents in the US and Canada live within 10 miles of one of Call2Recycle’s public drop-off locations.

 

Last March, Call2Recycle signed with 11 companies to develop, implement and promote a mandated single-use battery recycling program in Vermont. Vermont was the first state to require single-use battery manufacturers to develop a program to manage the collecting and recycling of spent primary batteries (including AA, C, D, and other household alkaline batteries), removing them from local landfills. The State of Vermont approved Call2Recycle as the stewardship program to implement the mandates in October. The law went into effect Jan. 1, 2016.

 

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