California Launches New Campaign on Battery Safety and Recycling

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Call2Recycle- North America’s largest consumer battery recycling and stewardship program has announced the launch of new campaign on battery safety and recycling. The campaign titled ‘Avoid the Spark’ aims to educate Californians on safe battery handling and recycling practices. The campaign is being launched in partnership with other industry partners and Bay Area waste and recycling facilities.

According to Call2Recycle, battery usage among Californians is currently at an all-time high. Despite the existence of strict battery laws, many Californians are unaware about safe disposal methods. Highlighting the dangers associated with used batteries, Call2Recycle noted that batteries were found to be the cause of nearly 65% of the fires across California’s waste facilities during the previous year. This had led to the launch of the awareness and education campaign, Call2Recycle said.

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The central theme of the campaign is top spread awareness on the need to protect the terminals of lithium-based batteries with non-conductive electrical, duct or clear packaging tape in order to prevent potential spark. The use of lithium-based batteries has reported exponential growth, especially over the past twenty years. As per 2016 estimates, nearly 367 million lithium batteries were sold in the U.S. in 2016 alone. The fact that California accounted for 12% of total sales makes it the ideal state to launch the campaign, said Call2Recycle press release.

Call2Recycle partners, stewards and collection sites recycled nearly 14 million pounds of batteries across the U.S. and Canada in 2017. The overall collection of rechargeable and primary batteries totaled 8 million pounds in the U.S., recording year-on-year growth of nearly 14%. Till date, the program has recycled approximately 144 million pounds of batteries.

Founded in 1994, Call2Recycle is a not-for-profit organization which provides battery recycling services to consumers across the U.S. and Canada.