Promoting battery recycling wins Winnipeg Public Library a community bike rack

Written for Call2Recycle web/newsletter, December 2013

For Waste Reduction Week 2013, Call2Recycle^® partnered with Winnipeg Public Library to raise awareness of our battery recycling program.  From October 21-27 all branches of Winnipeg Public Library competed to see which one could collect the most weight in spent batteries and used cellphones in seven days, earning the title of Winnipeg’s “Waste Ace”.

To make sure that people in Winnipeg were aware of Waste Reduction Week and the Call2Recycle program, staff in each of the branches unleashed their creativity by building eye-catching in-library displays and signage.  From Pembina Trail to West Kildonan and Westwood to Transcona, giant-sized AA batteries and other signage appeared hanging from the ceiling, Hallowe’en undead sought batteries from the living, and some library-goers were even greeted with battery requests from the characters of Star Wars. 

Both Call2Recycle and Winnipeg Public Library maintained chatter on Facebook and Twitter throughout the week.  This, combined with the displays and other promotional activity, got the message across to Winnipeggers.  By the end of the week more than 3,000 kg of batteries and cellphones had been collected.  That’s the weight of almost eight horses.  “The Winnipeg Waste Ace competition is a testimony to the power of communities,” explains Orysia Boytchuk, Marketing Director, Call2Recycle.  “The library did a great job in rallying the entire city behind battery recycling, and the entire city will benefit as a result.  It’s amazing what they managed to accomplish in such a short time.”

At the end of the week it was the community from St. Vital who triumphed, collecting 471 kg of batteries and used cellphones at their library branch.  Louis Riel Library came second with 412 kg and River Heights Library third with 309 kg.  As the winning branch, St. Vital Library got to choose the prize Call2Recycle would deliver.  After considering the needs of the local community, the team there elected to have Call2Recycle purchase a new bike rack for the library.  St. Vital Councillor Brian Mayes responded, "I would like to congratulate those who contributed to the Call2Recyle initiative by bringing in enough battery material to the St. Vital Library to garner a new bike rack that will be used by the many patrons who visit our branch."  

Rick Walker, Manager of Library Services, Winnipeg Public Library added, “The St. Vital Library has been well used by the residents of the community for over 50 years.  It’s been one of our busier branches since opening in 1963, loaning over 220,000 items annually. It is not surprising that this environmentally-conscious community would finish first in this competition, and it will be great to have a new bike rack that encourages visitors to ride their bike to the library rather than drive.”  The new bike rack will be delivered to St. Vital Library in time for spring 2014 bike riding and will serve the community for years to come.

Although Waste Reduction Week has now ended for 2013, Winnipeg Public Library continues to collect for the Call2Recycle program year-round at all 20 branches.  Call2Recycle accepts household batteries (weighing up to 5 kg) and used cellphones (any make, model, or age).  To find the drop-off location nearest you, visit our online locator or call 888.224.9764.

When batteries die, do they go to battery heaven?

Written for Call2Recycle web/newsletter, December 2013

One of the most common questions received by Call2Recycle’s bustling customer service team pertains to where the batteries go once a full box leaves a collection site. 

With Call2Recycle, batteries never die.  There is no battery heaven per se, but inside Canada, used batteries are transported to one of three sorting facilities.  Anything from Eastern Canada (except Quebec) goes directly to Newalta in Fort Erie, Ontario.  Newalta is a sizeable Canadian corporation with 85 product recovery sites across the North American continent.  On a daily basis, some 2,000 personnel receive anything from crude oil to hydraulic fluid to antifreeze and, of course, batteries.

Newalta processes approximately half a million kilograms of batteries from Call2Recycle every year.  Once the batteries arrive at Newalta, staff there begin sorting them by chemistry e.g. Lithium Ion into one area, Nickel Zinc into another.  Details are recorded such as the weight and battery types received, and then updated in an IT system so that Call2Recycle can track that information. 

Once all the batteries are sorted then each chemistry type is forwarded to a different processor organisation to reclaim the chemicals and metals.  For example, cobalt is reclaimed from Lithium Ion batteries by Xstrata in Sudbury, Ontario.  Lead is recovered from Small Sealed Lead Acid (SSLA/Pb) batteries by Newalta’s sister facility in Ville Ste-Catherine, Quebec.  These reclaimed materials are then re-used to make a variety of items.

Cobalt is actually a hard, lustrous, grey metal that – in ancient civilisations – was used as a blue pigment for jewelry, paint, glass and other things.  This is why even today “cobalt” is associated with the colour blue.  Reclaimed cobalt often goes into the manufacture of new, Lithium-based batteries.  Another reclaimed material is cadmium, which is also a metal but much softer than cobalt.  Unlike most other metals, cadmium is extremely resistant to the elements, so is often used as an anti-corrosive coating on other metals.  Reclaimed cadmium is used as a stiffener in construction materials such as cement, but can also be used to make new Nickel Cadmium batteries.  Nickel is also one of the key materials reclaimed by processors.  It’s a very versatile metal that can be combined with others to make steel, alloys, or super-alloys.  Reclaimed nickel finds its way into a myriad of different stainless steel products.

As such, since 1997 Newalta has been and continues to be an integral partner in Call2Recycle’s operations, providing a local sorting facility that is the closest thing to ‘battery heaven’ in Canada.  

Even Moore Investment in Canadian Youth

Written for Call2Recycle web/newsletter, December 2013.

As you read this article, it will likely be minus 20 degrees Celsius and snowy in the small Canadian town of Lloydminster, about halfway between Edmonton and Saskatoon.  Lloydminster has the peculiar claim of being in both the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan at the same time, since the town is built directly on the East-West provincial border.

Similarly, on the cusp between November and December the town hosts the “Boundary Ford Curling Classic” event, drawing 24 teams internationally to compete for $24,000 in prize money.  It’s the third womens’ team event in the Asham World Curling Tour this year, and among those competing on the tour will be Team Moore, a womens’ curling team of four that Call2Recycle® is proudly sponsoring for the season.  Kristie Moore, Sarah Wilkes, Ashleigh Clark, and Kyla MacLachlan are competing over the four-month season for not only prize money but also for Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) points.  These will decide whether the team  qualifies for the ‘Scotties Tournament of Hearts’ provincial playdown in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, in January 2014.

“We’re very grateful to Call2Recycle for its sponsorship,” explains Sarah Wilkes, team third.  “Although curling is very popular in Canada, amateur teams like ours still have to pay for accommodation during events and the flights to get there before we’ve even picked up a broom or a stone.  Just this season will likely cost $3,500 in entry fees alone.  Without sponsorship, there would be no Team Moore.”