Rechargeable battery recycling efforts earn King County national award

The King County Solid Waste Division, a recognized leader in environmental stewardship, has received a national award for its battery recycling efforts from the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC).

The Recycling Leadership Awards recognize RBRC’s community and public agency program participants for their exceptional efforts in rechargeable battery recycling through the Call2Recycle program.

Since its enrollment in 2003, the King County Solid Waste Division has recycled more than 33,000 pounds of rechargeable batteries through the Call2Recycle program, with more than 8,000 pounds collected this past year alone.

“Sound environmental stewardship is a core value of our mission, and our partnership with the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation has helped us achieve a very high level of success,” said Kevin Kiernan, King County Solid Waste Division Director.

In addition to a household hazardous waste facility that is open six days a week, King County operates a “Wastemobile” from March to October that serves numerous locations around the county.

The first program of its kind in the nation when it was created in 1989, the Wastemobile has collected more than 14,711 tons of household hazardous waste from nearly 330,000 customers. The Solid Waste Division provides these services as part of the regional Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County.

King County also promotes RBRC through its popular “What do I do with…” Web site, where residents can find out where to recycle all types of materials, including rechargeable batteries.

The rechargeable battery recycling effort is also promoted through King County’s EcoConsumer program, which offers environmentally-sound advice on a wide range of purchasing choices through mass media public education work.

“Year over year, the amount of rechargeable batteries collected through our Call2Recycle program has increased. We owe much of this success to the involvement of our community and public agency recycling partners and the strength of their individual efforts and contributions to the program,” said Linda Gabor, Director of Marketing and Media Relations, RBRC.

Call2Recycle is the most comprehensive rechargeable battery and cell phone recycling program nationwide. The program provides a convenient way to collect and recycle old cell phones and the used rechargeable batteries found in cordless electronic products, such as digital cameras, laptop computers, cordless power tools, two-way radios, cordless phones, cell phones, PDAs and camcorders.

There are more than 50,000 enrolled collection sites throughout the U.S. and Canada where consumers can bring used rechargeable batteries and old cell phones for recycling.

About RBRC

The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) is a nonprofit, public service organization dedicated to rechargeable battery recycling. There are over 50,000 retail, business, and community collection locations enrolled in RBRC’s rechargeable battery recycling program throughout Canada and the United States. RBRC is funded by more than 350 manufacturers and marketers of portable rechargeable batteries and products. RBRC’s public education campaign and recycling program is the result of the rechargeable power industry’s commitment to conserve natural resources and prevent rechargeable batteries from entering the solid waste stream. In pursuit of its mission, RBRC also collects old cell phones. Cell phones collected through the Call2Recycle program will be recycled or refurbished and resold when possible with a portion of the proceeds benefiting select charities. Contributions or gifts to RBRC are not tax deductible. For more information, call 877-2-RECYCLE or visit www.call2recycle.org, or contact Linda Gabor, 678-419-9990, ext. 216; or lgabor@rbrc.com.