North American Used Battery Recycling Crosses 14 Million Pounds in 2017

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Call2Recycle, Inc., North America’s first and largest consumer battery stewardship organization, today announced that nearly 14 million pounds of used batteries were collected throughout the US and Canada during the entire year 2017. This equates to nearly 6.3 million kilograms. Since its inception, the program has collected nearly 144 million pounds of used batteries. It must be noted that Call2Recycle’s battery collection had hit record high in 2016, with total collections jumping by 12% over 2015.

Carl Smith, CEO & president of Call2Recycle, Inc. noted that the reported growth in battery recycling is mainly attributed to the team efforts of all its partners, stewards and collection sites. The increased awareness about the need for recycling prompted consumers to recycle more batteries than the year before, he noted.

In the U.S., new recycling options resulted in nearly 20% jump in primary battery collection. The program collected 8 million pounds of rechargeable and primary batteries during 2017. The year also reported notable growth in battery reuse. Call2Recycle also noted that products with non-removable batteries reported remarkable jump during the year.

The total battery collections in Vermont- the first U.S. state to introduce mandatory battery recycling initiative, edged higher by 14% in 2017, when compared with the prior year. The collections through the Call2Recycle program totaled 81,000 pounds. Since its launch in 2016, more than 250,000 pounds of used batteries have been recycled through the Call2Recycle program.

Call2Recycle had made significant investments to boost consumer accessibility and create recycling awareness among consumers. These efforts have resulted in maintaining the collection rates unchanged during 2017. The investments coupled with new partnerships are expected to further boost collections in 2018.

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In 2017, Quebec, with collection of 2.2 million pounds emerged as the leading province in terms of collection of used batteries, followed by British Colombia (1.3 million pounds) and Manitoba (202,000 pounds). Apart from the above three provinces where Call2Recycle runs approved battery stewardship program, it collects batteries from other provinces as well.

Call2Recycle, Inc. is a not-for-profit, stewardship organization committed to the safe collection, transportation and recycling of consumer batteries and cell phones across Canada and the U.S.