Call2Recycle Campaign Spotlights Battery Recycling Safety

In response to safety-related and fire incidents involving hoverboards, cellphones, headphones and laptops traced to batteries, battery recycling organization Call2Recycle has launched the Charge Up Safety campaign.

The objective is to raise the awareness of safe collection and shipping practices among consumers, municipalities, retailers, sorters, processors and Call2Recycle employees. Call2Recycle collects and recycles single-use and rechargeable batteries under 11 lbs. (5 kgs) and has diverted approximately 130 million lbs. (59 million kgs) from landfills during the past 21 years.

“Our number one objective as an organization is the SAFE collection and recycling of batteries,” Call2Recycling CEO and President Carl Smith said in a statement. “We are launching Charge Up Safety to ensure that the importance of safety isn’t forgotten in our commitment to sustain the environment.”

Call2Recycle has launched a new safety portal on how to safely recycle and ship batteries. Collection site employees and consumers will be able to take an online training module that tests their battery handling knowledge. Instructions for handling damaged, defective and recalled batteries are also featured. Additional safety policies for collection sites, sorters and processors are being implemented. Organizations that do not follow the policies may be suspended or terminated from the program.

“As the volume and types of batteries in the marketplace expand, so do the risks for an incident,” Smith said in a statement. “Rechargeable batteries can hold a residual charge, and when they come into contact with another metal they can cause a spark, which can escalate into a fire or explosion. At the highest risk are the lithium ion rechargeable batteries found in many of today’s portable devices such as cellphones, laptops, tablets and power tools.”