2017 Battery collection in the US exceeds expectations according to North America’s leading battery recycling programme, Call2Recycle. A total of 8 million pounds of batteries were collected from recycling programmes in the US. The leading 5 states were Vermont, Delaware, Tennessee, Minnesota and New Hampshire. California came in sixth with Washington 8th and Texas 10th in the list of the top 10 battery recycling states.
Call2Recycle was able to determine each individual state’s performance by comparing collection performance against the state population and indexing it. Vermont make up 0.2% of the US population but recycled 134,500 pounds of batteries that equates on a per capita basis to nearly nine times the expected result. Carl Smith, CEO and president, believes the intense engagement was thanks to the state setting up the country’s first ever producer-funded stewardship plan for discarded batteries.
“These results reflect the true dedication of programme stewards, battery collection partners and consumers to support communities and make a positive impact on the environment”. Mr Smith said.
Recent statistics show that 95% of Americans own a mobile phone and almost 50% own handheld devices such as e-readers or portable tablets. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that a third of Americans live in a household with three or more smartphones.
With lithium ion rechargeable batteries found in portables devices such as mobiles, laptops, tablets and power tools a key issue for the industry will be the safe collection and recycling of these batteries as there are inherent operational risks in their collection and recycling.
Recycal, linked to its sister company CMA Ecocycle, are a recycling business with ISO9001, IS 14001, IAO18001 and AS/NZS 5377 accreditation. In this important area of battery collection and recycling the company aims to be a leader in recycling Lithium, Nickel Cadium, Nickel Metal Hydride, Alkaline & Silver/Mercury batteries. New investments are currently under construction to ensure leadership in this growing segment of the recycling market.
