Canadians called to recycle batteries in October

Call2Recycle, Canada’s leading battery collection and recycling program, is encouraging consumers to recycle their batteries in support of Circular Economy Month through a dedicated awareness campaign.

Launched by the Circular Innovation Council, Circular Economy Month promotes Canada’s effort to build a strong circular economy, reduce environmental impact, and retain as much value as possible from scarce resources, by reusing, repurposing, or recycling materials.

Call2Recycle plays a leading role during this campaign in educating Canadians about the importance of diverting used batteries from landfills and recycling their components. Battery recycling is an example of the circular economy in action. Batteries contain rare chemical and metal components that may be harmful to the environment if they end up in landfills.

However, when batteries are recycled properly, these substances can instead be processed and made into new products, such as stainless-steel appliances, golf clubs, bicycles, and more, reducing the need to mine new materials and lowering the associated carbon footprint.

Throughout the month of October, Call2Recycle is partnering with real estate management company Morguard to offer convenient battery recycling services in 18 shopping centres nationwide, offering millions of Canadians the opportunity to dispose of their end-of-life batteries. In addition, mini collection cubes will be distributed to customers and retailers at these locations to encourage the collection of batteries at home.

As part of Circular Economy Month, Call2Recycle will host a battery recycling contest, which is promoted on television and digital media. Consumers can enter the contest to win prizes by dropping off their batteries at one of over 10,000 Call2Recycle’s convenient public drop-off locations. Once present at a drop-off location, consumers can enter the contest by visiting www.RecycleYourBatteries.ca. Mobile “location services” enable them to confirm their whereabouts.

“Call2Recycle is Canada’s leading program in battery recycling, and we want to aim to also lead the way in educating Canadians about the Circular Economy.” said Joe Zenobio, President, Call2Recycle Canada. “This 2023 Circular Economy Month is an opportunity for all of us to take a step to recycle our materials, starting with our used batteries, and we are in particular delighted to partner with Morguard during this month to offer more Canadians access battery recycling services in shopping centres. By diverting these batteries from landfills, we can help protect our environment, re-use their components for new products and help build a stronger circular economy for Canada”.

With a network of over 10,000 battery drop-off locations across Canada, over 89% of Canadians are living within 15 km of a convenient Call2Reycle collection point. As more consumers get into the habit of recycling their batteries, it will dramatically reduce the environmental and social impacts of the material extraction required to create the batteries. To participate in the Circular Economy Month, Canadians are encouraged to recycle their batteries by using three simple steps (“Collect, Protect, Drop-Off”).