Lowe’s Canada Diverted 255,000 Pounds of Batteries from Landfills

(Photo Credit: Lowe’s Canada)

Lowe’s Canada received recognition this week for its ongoing national household battery collection and recycling efforts to combat battery waste. The home improvement retailer recovered more than 255,000 pounds of batteries in 2019 alone.

Recovery units installed in Lowe’s, Rona, and Reno-Depot corporate and affiliated stores across Canada offer customers a place to put spent batteries, keeping them out of landfills. Lowe’s Canada is one of the highest performing partners in the battery recycling program Call2Recycle Canada, the organization said.

The Lowe’s Canada network has contributed to the diversion of more than 1.9 million pounds of batteries from landfills since 2001, according to Call2Recycle Canada president Joe Zenobio. His program just named the retailer a Leader in Sustainability award winner for an eighth time.

Besides battery recovery efforts, Lowe’s Canada has several other programs aimed at diverting dangerous products from landfills. Last year the retailer reported recovering nearly 6 million pounds of paint as well as more than 200,000 pounds of CFL bulbs and fluorescent tubes. The stores also offer recycling for materials including cardboard, paper, plastic, wood, and metal.

By 2030, Lowe’s Canada intends to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below its 2016 levels. In mid-March, the company announced an investment of nearly $18 million in initiatives that improve energy efficiency at its corporate stores and distribution centers around the country.

Plans call for 230 Lowe’s, Rona, and Reno-Depot corporate stores in Canada to be equipped with an indoor and outdoor lighting automation system by the end of this year. The system optimizes energy consumption, and automates and remotely controls the stores’ heating and cooling so that energy is only used during business hours, the company said.