Skip to main content

Battery Recycling


-- Battery Recycling --

Sadly only 28% of Canadians are recycling less than 20% of the batteries consumed in the country – despite education campaigns and ample collection sites.  According to an article I read recently from the Recycling Product Newsletter: “One mg of mercury is enough to make all the fish in a 20 acre lake inedible for a full year. With almost 11 mg of mercury in the average button cell, alkaline battery, RMC says Canadians' awareness of the implications of improper disposal is in stark contrast to the realities of the situation”.   

RawMaterials.com offers battery recycling collection boxes, prepaid shipping, for businesses to collect in-house batteries – and also their customers/clients.  They also offer similar collection systems for fluorescent and CFL bulbs and thermometers. According to their site the average home consumes 1.2 pounds of cell batteries per year, and while only 1% of landfill waste is batteries – they are responsible for 50-70% of the heavy metals found in these sites. 

Call2Recycle.ca is another great resource to check out… click on their “find a depot” link and enter in the city/province to find drop off sites. 

Here in Creston we can take in batteries and cell phones via: The Source, Lectron Enterprise, Town of Creston City Hall, and Home Hardware Building Center

Of course we can decrease battery consumption by using rechargeable batteries…  I tend to keep a zip-lock type baggie near the recycling area in the carport where I can contribute smaller household batteries as they burn out. While we do have all the AAA and AA batteries in rechargeable varieties, they will eventually wear out and will have to be replaced once they don’t hold their charge anymore. There are other batteries too such as a few D’s and those square ones that go in fire alarms… So far we don’t have these in rechargeable form. So any and all batteries go in that bag and when it is full enough – or whenever we are heading in the direction of the closest collection site, we take it in.


Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or visiting the Brummet's Store - every sale raises funds for charity as well!


Comments

  1. People need to be more responsible towards environment & participate in recycling.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comment!

http://www.twitter.com/brummet
http://www.facebook.com/lillian.brummet
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ldbrummet