Call2Recycle® is pleased to announce that the Northeast Recycling Council’s (NERC) member states recycled over a million pounds of rechargeable batteries and cellphones through their participation in the Call2Recycle program in 2012 – that’s equivalent to the weight of 40 school buses! Pennsylvania and New York lead collections with total weights of 319,113 and 242,061 pounds, respectively.
“The Northeast continues to be a leader in environmental stewardship and demonstrated commitment to diverting materials from the waste stream through multiple initiatives, including recycling, “ said Todd Ellis, Account Manager at Call2Recycle. “We applaud NERC’s members for their continued support of battery recycling and their promotion of the safe reclamation of these materials.”
Battery and cellphone recycling diverts potentially hazardous materials from the waste stream and ensures that valuable resources are reused.
A bit of additional commentary by yours truly ...
While I'm thrilled to see that batteries are being collected and recycled - and that the NE states are displaying a leadership role in the effort - I continued to be concerned about the number of batteries that are being manufactured in the first place. Also wondering what percentage of total batteries that were disposed of were recaptured for recycling ... while a million is impressive, if it represents only a small percentage of what was actually thrown away into land fills, I dare say we have a ways to go to feel proud of our accomplishments.
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