Call2Recycle®, North America’s first and largest consumer battery recycling program, recently revealed its program’s top performing battery recycling states by comparing collection performance with state population. Vermont topped the list with Delaware, Tennessee, Minnesota, New Hampshire, California, Pennsylvania, Washington, Maryland and Texas rounding out the top 10 in the nation. These efforts contributed to the collection and diversion of 8 million pounds of batteries in the U.S. in 2017 through the Call2Recycle program.
Last year, the citizens of Vermont were the country’s most engaged battery recyclers due to the state being the first to adopt a producer-funded stewardship plan. Vermont’s population is only 0.2% of the contiguous U.S. (623,657), but its residents recycled 134,500 pounds of batteries – roughly 880% more batteries than expected.
With 95% of Americans owning a cellphone and almost 50% owning e-readers or portable tablets, battery use is on the rise.1 Additionally, lithium ion batteries are growing in the market due to their lightweight and high energy density. Lithium ion batteries power several popular products like laptops, cellphones and cordless power tools. Throughout these batteries’ lifecycle, even when they no longer power products, they retain a residual charge that can prove to be dangerous if not handled properly. All this underscores the importance of not trashing these battery types and responsibly recycling them to protect people and property.
“These results reflect the dedication of program stewards, collection partners and consumers to support communities and make a positive impact on the environment,” said Carl Smith, CEO and president of Call2Recycle, Inc. “We congratulate these top performing states and look to leverage their experiences and best practices to further engagement of battery recycling across the country.”
For more information, visit www.call2recycle.org.