Call2Recycle encourages consumers to recycle on National Battery Day

Call2Recycle Inc., North America's first and largest consumer battery stewardship and recycling organization with headquarters in Atlanta and Toronto, is encouraging consumers across the U.S. and Canada to Lead the Charge on National Battery Day, Feb. 18, 2017, by collecting and recycling used batteries.

National Battery Day is a celebration of the vital role batteries play in our everyday lives while also drawing attention to the ease and importance of recycling them at the end of their useful lives. In a recent Nielsen survey commissioned by Call2Recycle, only 4 out of 10 North American consumers classify themselves as battery recyclers. For many, one of the main barriers to recycling is not knowing how or where to recycle certain items.

Call2Recycle says battery recycling is increasingly important to:

• prevent the potentially hazardous metals some batteries may contain from harming the environment;
• reduce waste and divert batteries from landfills; and
• conserve valuable, natural resources.
  

Call2Recycle is teaming up with its numerous battery collection partners to raise consumer awareness of how and where to properly dispose of old batteries. Through its network of collection partners and industry stewards, battery recycling is designed to be easy and convenient. The Call2Recycle program ensures that batteries and cellphones are collected and responsibly recycled, thereby keeping potentially hazardous materials from entering the waste stream, the organization says. 

The Call2Recycle program is designed to make it easy to be a responsible battery user with its network of more than 30,000 drop-off locations including community centers, depots and retail stores that many consumers may visit regularly, such as Best Buy, Jean Coutu, London Drugs, Lowe's, Staples, The Home Depot and more. When your batteries run out, find a battery collection site to recycle them by visiting www.call2recycle.org/locator. 

"Batteries afford us many every day conveniences and are essential in powering our daily lives, and this freedom to go unplugged comes with a responsibility," says Linda Gabor, vice president of marketing and customer service at Call2Recycle Inc. "Eighty-eight percent of North Americans live within 10 miles of a Call2Recycle drop-off location – a convenient and effective way for people to get involved in recycling not just on National Battery Day but all year long."

The battery stewardship organization recently announced that a record-setting 14 million pounds of batteries and cellphones were collected throughout the U.S. and Canada in 2016. This significant milestone marks the 20th consecutive year of increased collections by Call2Recycle, contributing to the 129 million pounds of batteries diverted from landfills and responsibly recycled over the past two decades.