Canadians charged up over battery recycling

One million kilograms of batteries collected in Canada to date!

TORONTO, May 11, 2016 /CNW/ - Canada's national consumer battery stewardship organization, Call2Recycle Canada, Inc., today announced that it has collected over 1 million kilograms of batteries from January to date.  This milestone signals that the Call2Recycle® program is on track to surpass its 2015 total collections of over 2.4 million kilograms. 

Serving as the provincially-recognized program in British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, and having signed official agreements with New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, Call2Recycle has seen collections increase in those provinces collectively by 20% over the same time period in 2015.  Most notably, Canadian provinces of Quebec and British Columbia grew collections by 27 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

The increase in collections also can be attributed to Call2Recycle's dedicated campaigns this year to raise consumer awareness and make battery recycling as easy and convenient as possible.

Earlier this year, Call2Recycle launched its first National Battery Day campaign around February 18, which resulted in a 12% uptick in its February collections over last year.  Additionally, its current Spring Cleaning campaign is encouraging residents across Canada to collect and recycle old batteries. The organization has also partnered with education-focused groups like Earth Day Canada and Earth Rangers across the provinces to raise awareness with younger students.  

"Canadians generally have a high propensity to recycling, but we are ecstatic to see that those behaviors are extending beyond traditional materials like paper, plastic and glass, and that they are accepting and acting on their responsibility to ensure the proper end-of-life of batteries," said Joe Zenobio, Executive Director of Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. "This growth cannot be sustained without the support of our collection partners who play an integral role in our recycling efforts by serving as convenient drop-off locations."

The organization has continued to enhance its collection network with municipalities, retailers and local recycling partners, resulting in over 91% of the Canadian population having access to one of Call2Recycle's 8,000 public drop-off locations within 15 kilometers of their homes. 

Call2Recycle Canada, Inc.

Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. (Call2Recycle) is a premier product stewardship organization dedicated to minimizing the environmental impacts of products in the marketplace. Operating across Canada and the U.S., its marquee battery recycling program Call2Recycle® is the oldest and largest consumer battery stewardship program. Collecting and recycling batteries for retailers, municipalities, businesses and consumers through its network of close to 30,000 collection sites, Call2Recycle has diverted over 45 million kilograms of batteries and cellphones from the solid waste stream in North America. Learn more at call2recycle.ca.

SOURCE Call2Recycle

Sandra Abuwalla, Call2Recycle Canada, Inc., [e-mail], [phone]