Thanks to consumers, retailers, and municipalities, more than 5.7 million pounds (2.6 million kilograms) of batteries 鈥� the weight of approximately 433 full-grown elephants 鈥� were kept out of U.S. and Canadian landfills and recycled so far this year, reports Call2Recycle, Inc., North America鈥檚 first and largest consumer battery stewardship organization. This significant environmental victory signals battery collections are on target to grow for the 19th consecutive year.
With approximately 90 per cent of both U.S. and Canadian residents living within 10 miles (15 kilometres) of one of Call2Recycle鈥檚 34,000-plus public drop-off locations, battery recycling has become increasingly simple and convenient, said a release from Call2Recycle. Battery collections from this strong consumer-facing network, including retailers and municipalities, across both the U.S. and Canada increased by six per cent so far in 2015.
In the U.S., western states, northern plains and the Great Lakes regions drove the bulk of growth at 11 per cent; while regionally, British Columbia and Ontario grew collections by 19 per cent and 7 per cent respectively. In fact, since its launch in 2010, British Columbia has collected and recycled more than 4.5 million pounds (2 million kilograms) of batteries.
Last year, Call2Recycle reached a milestone of collecting 100 million pounds (45 million kilograms) in total collections throughout its network in both the United States and Canada since launching in 1996.
Cultivating educated consumers and committed partners has been important for continuing to drive collection growth, the release said. Call2Recycle develops strategic partnerships with like-minded organizations to help promote consumer awareness.
Partners in Canada such as Earth Rangers, Earth Day Canada and BC Green Games, contributed to increased collections resulting in 26 per cent of Call2Recycle鈥檚 total growth. Dedicated efforts from municipalities, retailers and battery and product manufacturers across the U.S. and Canada also contributed to this growth.
鈥淧artners make continued robust growth possible in collecting batteries for recycling,鈥� said Carl Smith, CEO and president of Call2Recycle, Inc. 鈥淣ot only do they contribute to convenient drop-off locations across the U.S. and Canada, they also help fuel the message to consumers on the importance of battery recycling to keep batteries out of landfills.鈥�
In Canada, two new jurisdictions, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, recently reconfirmed their battery recycling commitment by signing Memos of Understanding with Call2Recycle, adding to the organization鈥檚 status as the provincially-sanctioned program in Manitoba, Quebec and British Columbia. Additionally, the organization added more than 125 new Ontario municipalities to its collection network.
鈥淓ducating consumers, businesses, and municipalities about the ease and importance of recycling batteries continues to be a key priority for Call2Recycle,鈥� said Joe Zenobio, executive director of Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. 鈥淥ur continuously expanding collection network across Canada and the U.S., makes recycling easy and accessible.鈥�
Founded in 1994, Call2Recycle, Inc., operating North America鈥檚 first and largest consumer battery stewardship program, is a non-profit organization that collects and recycles batteries at no cost for municipalities, businesses and consumers. Since program inception, Call2Recycle has diverted over 100 million pounds (45 million kilograms) of batteries and cellphones from the solid waste stream and established over 34,000 collection sites throughout the U.S. and Canada. It is the first program of its kind to receive the Responsible Recycling Practices Standard (R2) certification. Learn more at .
