City offers curbside battery collection October 26 to November 6
Guelph, Ontario, October 20, 2015 – The City is offering free curbside collection of single-use alkaline batteries for the first time to Guelph households from October 26 to November 6.
“Battery recycling helps prevent soil and water pollution that can occur if batteries are disposed of improperly,” explains Heather Connell, manager of integrated services at Solid Waste Resources. “Today’s recycling technology is capable of recycling and recovering over 90 per cent of the components found in used household batteries, including metal, carbon and manganese.”
A battery collection bag will be distributed to residents in the Guelph Tribune newspaper on Thursday, October 22.
Battery collection will take place on the regular blue cart collection day from October 26 to November 6.
To participate, residents are asked to:
- cover all 9-volt battery terminals with masking, duct or electrical tape
- place used or unwanted single-use alkaline batteries (e.g. AA, AAA, D and 9V) inside the battery bag and seal it
- place the bag on the ground beside the blue cart
“When not stored or disposed of properly, 9-volt batteries can create a fire hazard if a metal object comes in contact with the positive and negative terminals. Before disposing of 9-volt batteries it is important to cover the terminals with a piece of masking, duct, or electrical tape,” says Matt Valeriote, assistant chief Fire prevention officer with the Guelph Fire Department.
Residents who do not receive a battery collection bag can pick one up at:
- City Hall, 1 Carden Street
- West End Community Centre, 21 Imperial Road South
- Victoria Road Recreation Centre, 151 Victoria Road North
- Evergreen Community Seniors Centre, 683 Woolwich Street
- Waste Resource Innovation Centre, 110 Dunlop Drive
Residents can also take their used batteries to City Hall, West End Recreation Centre or Waste Resource Innovation Centre for safe disposal and recycling, any time throughout the year.
The curbside battery recycling program will cost $10,650. The City will receive $0.50 per pound of batteries collected from Stewardship Ontario through the Curbside Battery Recovery Incentive, which is expected cover the majority of the program cost.
This program is a recommendation from the City’s Solid Waste Management Master Plan, and supports the City’s efforts to meet its waste diversion target of 70 per cent by 2021.