The City of Peterborough and Call2Recycle, Canada’s leading battery collection and recycling program, are launching an awareness campaign to mitigate the community’s carbon footprint and encourage Peterborough residents to recycle their used batteries. This initiative expands the partnership between the City of Peterborough and Call2Recycle to improve recycling habits and reduce the city’s environmental footprint. Through this expansion of the existing partnership, Peterborough has already increased its battery recycling volumes by over 507% to date since the end of 2022.
As part of this awareness campaign, Peterborough garbage trucks and a city bus will display information from Call2Recycle educating residents about the importance of recycling their batteries. In addition, 30,000 individual battery collection cubes will be distributed to residents, with instructions on how to collect used batteries at home and find the nearest drop-off location.
This initiative supports the City’s efforts to reduce waste and protect the environment as part of its Climate Change Action Plan. Peterborough now hosts 25 Call2Recycle drop-off points and has recycled nearly 100,000 kg of used batteries in the past 4 years, including over 55,000 kg in 2023. Together, Call2Recycle and the City are building on this progress and reminding Peterborough residents to recycle their batteries and build positive, long-lasting recycling habits.
“In Peterborough, we are committed to sustainability and waste diversion initiatives. This innovative partnership with Call2Recycle has streamlined the process for responsible disposal of household batteries. I encourage all residents to learn about the program and take advantage of the many convenient battery drop-off locations, which include several City facilities. By working together, we can build a brighter future,” said Mayor Jeff Leal.
“We’re pleased to partner with Call2Recycle in support of our shared commitment to protect the environment. Recycling batteries both reduces our carbon footprint by reusing the material, and more importantly, it protects our landfill from the harmful impact of chemical leaching from batteries that are improperly thrown in the garbage. This new awareness campaign is most welcome in Peterborough – it will be helpful to have visual reminders of battery recycling on our new garbage trucks and a City bus,” said Councillor Gary Baldwin, the City’s Waste Management Portfolio Chair.
“It’s perfect timing for this partnership with Call2Recycle. As we roll out our Green Bin program to divert organics from the landfill, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it’s a natural fit to re-commit ourselves to recycling and diversion efforts for other items, especially household hazardous waste such as batteries. When residents receive their Green Bins, they are reminded to look inside the Green Bin for their Call2Recycle battery Collection Cube. We’re happy to be working together to protect the environment,” said Councillor Joy Lachica, the City’s Environment and Climate Change Portfolio Chair.
“The City of Peterborough has long been a leader in environmental sustainability and we are delighted to expand our partnership with them to advance battery recycling in the Peterborough community.” said Joe Zenobio, President, Call2Recycle Canada. “We are already working with over 150 Ontario municipalities and look forward to continuing these partnerships to ramp up battery recycling and climate change mitigation efforts in Ontario and all of Canada.”