Call2Recycle campaign educates and promotes responsible battery recycling
ST. JAMES— Call2Recycle®, North America’s first and largest consumer battery stewardship and recycling program, is encouraging consumers to declutter living spaces and break the battery hoarder habit by recycling used batteries. Individuals can even enter to win a Charged-Up Battery Kit from Call2Recycle to jumpstart their battery recycling efforts.
With the busy nature of life, it’s easy to become a battery hoarder. Be it empty nesters with old electronics in the attic or new home owners with boxes of childhood treasures (including toys with batteries) in the basement or garage, hoarding happens.
A recent Nielsen study found that 21 percent of surveyed Americans hoarded used single-use batteries for six months to a year, with 24 percent keeping used rechargeable batteries for the same duration. Reasons for hoarding included holding for a future recycling trip or not knowing what to do with the used batteries. The good news: consumers can break the battery hoarder habit!
“By breaking the battery hoarder habit, consumers can organize their living spaces, recycle used batteries and do something positive for the planet,” said Linda Gabor, vice president of marketing and customer service for Call2Recycle, Inc.
If spring cleaning is on your to-do list, it’s the perfect time to reclaim space filled with old batteries to make it a cleaner and safer by recycling your batteries. Consumers should bag or tape used batteries as needed before taking to a Call2Recycle drop-off site. Local drop-offs in the Meramec Region for rechargeable batteries or cellphones include Lowes locations in Rolla, Sullivan, St. Robert or Washington Lowes in Franklin County. If damaged or swollen batteries are uncovered during clean-out, contact Call2Recycle as these batteries require special handling.
Additionally, single-use batteries can be accepted at the Rolla Recycling Center. For more information on when and how, contact them at 573-364-6693 or visit www.rollacity.org/recycle.
For more information on how to reduce waste in the Meramec Region, visit the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District’s (ORSWMD) website at www.ozarkrivers.org or contact Tammy Snodgrass or Jill Hollowell at 573-265-2993.
The Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District includes Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities with populations of 500 or more. The district’s strategy for solid waste reduction, which has been individually adopted by all member governments and approved by Missouri Department of Natural Resources involves education and increased recycling and waste reduction efforts in member counties and cities. MRPC provides administration of the district and assists with a variety of implementation projects.
For more information about ORSWMD or waste reduction and recycling opportunities in the Ozark Rivers area, contact Tammy Snodgrass, MRPC environmental programs manager, at 573-265-2993 or by email at tsnodgrass@meramecregion.org. Also, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ORSWMD and on the web at www.ozarkrivers.org. MRPC provides the day-to-day administration for Ozark Rivers.
Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. A professional staff of 23, directed by the MRPC board, offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.
To keep up with the latest MRPC news and events, visit the MRPC website at www.meramecregion.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meramecregion/.
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