Avoid the Spark campaign continues battery safety awareness

Atlanta-based nonprofit Call2Recycle announces the Avoid the Spark campaign--a public education effort to reduce battery safety incidents--returns to the Bay Area this month. Efforts include local county battery collections, an event to benefit the California Fire Foundation and the launch of a dedicated battery safety resource web page.

 

The organization says the Avoid the Spark’s May campaign launch was spurred by the growing epidemic of battery-related fires at recycling and waste facilities along with the hidden dangers of trashing lithium-based batteries.

Coordinated by Call2Recycle, the campaign educates on the proper handling and disposal of old batteries to prevent fires.

According to a recent California Product Stewardship Council survey, 83 percent of respondents have experienced a fire at their waste facility. Of the reported fires, 65 percent were due to batteries, the organization reports.

While the Call2Recycle program is seeing a decrease of batteries without terminal protection received from the Bay Area, there remains a gap between consumer knowledge and practice of battery safety.

“This spring, we launched the first phase of Avoid the Spark in the Bay Area, but we know that there is still much work to do in raising awareness about safely handling, transporting and disposing of batteries,” says Carl Smith, CEO and president of Call2Recycle, Inc. “Through these partnerships, events and educational resources, our goal is to shift consumer behavior away from trashing batteries to recycling them as a critical part of our environmental mission.”

The Avoid the Spark battery collection event will take place Oct. 26 in San Francisco. For every pound of batteries received, the campaign will donate to the California Fire Foundation.