New Study Seeks to Improve Battery Recycling

Call2Recycle, a rechargeable battery and cell phone collection program, and the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) have released the results of a study on battery recycling metrics. The report, “Battery Performance Metrics: Recommendations for Best Practice,” examines ways that stewardship performance is gauged and offers guidance that policy makers, manufacturers and program participants can use to evaluate and strengthen battery collection initiatives.

According to Call2Recycle and PSI, governments and businesses use a variety of methodologies to calculate collection and participation rates. These different methodologies result in discrepancies in reported metrics and the perceived success of programs.

“Our collection program has earned substantial recognition from municipalities, retailers and consumers alike, yet we still seek measures to help us continually improve our program and fulfill our mission to protect the environment,” said Carl Smith, president and CEO of the nonprofit Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation, which operates Call2Recycle, in a press release. “Our goal is to influence stakeholders to agree on a set of appropriate performance metrics and establish processes that will standardize measurement for many organizations committed to collecting and recycling products.”

“Measuring performance is critical to collecting and recycling more batteries,” said Scott Cassel, executive director of Product Stewardship Institute, in a press release. “This study is meant to motivate all key stakeholders to reach a consensus on performance measures with an emphasis on a collection rate target supported by convenience measures, per capita collection rates and wider sustainability metrics.”

A PDF of the full report can be viewed here.