Survey: Rechargeable Battery Recycling Program Low on Juice
A new survey finds that the recycling efforts of the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation are falling well short of the mark.
The recycling efforts of the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) are falling well short of the mark, according to a new survey by INFORM, Inc., a national environmental research organization. The report, Problems in Cell Phone and Battery Collection: RBRC Recycling Initiatives, evaluates the RBRC¡¦s recycling operations in five cities in New York and New Jersey.
The RBRC was formed in 1994 by members of the battery industry to initiate a voluntary national rechargeable battery recycling program in response to legislation mandating industry takeback of rechargeable batteries in many states. A decade later, in April 2004, RBRC expanded its focus, starting a cell phone recycling program. Governments in the U.S. and abroad have been concerned about disposal of rechargeable batteries and cell phones because of the many toxic substances they contain, such as arsenic, lead, cadmium and brominated flame retardants.
The first sign that RBRC's recycling programs aren't all they're cracked up to be came when INFORM survey team members were unable to locate seven of the 48 stores the group chose for the survey from RBRC's own list of drop-off locations. The picture became more discouraging as INFORM team members discovered that of the 41 stores surveyed, a mere 16 had cell phone recycling boxes; only six (1/8th of INFORM's initial sample) were identifiable as belonging to the RBRC program. The decade-old battery recycling program demonstrated some improvement but was still lacking, with only 21 stores having boxes
for batteries, 11 of which were identifiable as RBRC. When collection boxes were present at the designated drop-off location, they were often hidden from customer view behind a counter. Locating boxes was made even more challenging by the lack of knowledge among staff at many locations.
"Even by its own standards, RBRC's recycling programs have been disappointing," said Bette Fishbein, INFORM's senior fellow who worked on the survey along with research assistant Aarthi Rayapura. Fishbein also authored Waste in the Wireless World, the publication that first called attention to the more than 100 million cell phones that are taken out of service in the U.S. each year. Fishbein noted that "in 1998 RBRC forecast recycling 14.3 million pounds of batteries in 2003 and 16.9 million pounds by 2004 in the U.S.. In reality, they were more than 70 percent short of meeting this goal, collecting only 4 million pounds in 2003 and 4.4 million pounds in 2004 for the U.S. and Canada combined."
INFORM concludes that if the industry's voluntary recycling program is to remain a stand-in for governmental mandates, the shortcomings illuminated by this survey must be remedied. INFORM offers several recommendations to help alleviate the apparent problems with the program:
The RBRC was formed in 1994 by members of the battery industry to initiate a voluntary national rechargeable battery recycling program in response to legislation mandating industry takeback of rechargeable batteries in many states. A decade later, in April 2004, RBRC expanded its focus, starting a cell phone recycling program. Governments in the U.S. and abroad have been concerned about disposal of rechargeable batteries and cell phones because of the many toxic substances they contain, such as arsenic, lead, cadmium and brominated flame retardants.
The first sign that RBRC's recycling programs aren't all they're cracked up to be came when INFORM survey team members were unable to locate seven of the 48 stores the group chose for the survey from RBRC's own list of drop-off locations. The picture became more discouraging as INFORM team members discovered that of the 41 stores surveyed, a mere 16 had cell phone recycling boxes; only six (1/8th of INFORM's initial sample) were identifiable as belonging to the RBRC program. The decade-old battery recycling program demonstrated some improvement but was still lacking, with only 21 stores having boxes
for batteries, 11 of which were identifiable as RBRC. When collection boxes were present at the designated drop-off location, they were often hidden from customer view behind a counter. Locating boxes was made even more challenging by the lack of knowledge among staff at many locations.
"Even by its own standards, RBRC's recycling programs have been disappointing," said Bette Fishbein, INFORM's senior fellow who worked on the survey along with research assistant Aarthi Rayapura. Fishbein also authored Waste in the Wireless World, the publication that first called attention to the more than 100 million cell phones that are taken out of service in the U.S. each year. Fishbein noted that "in 1998 RBRC forecast recycling 14.3 million pounds of batteries in 2003 and 16.9 million pounds by 2004 in the U.S.. In reality, they were more than 70 percent short of meeting this goal, collecting only 4 million pounds in 2003 and 4.4 million pounds in 2004 for the U.S. and Canada combined."
INFORM concludes that if the industry's voluntary recycling program is to remain a stand-in for governmental mandates, the shortcomings illuminated by this survey must be remedied. INFORM offers several recommendations to help alleviate the apparent problems with the program:
- Detailed annual reports should be issued publicly disclosing the percentage of rechargeable batteries and cell phones recycled, along with respective recycling rates in the U.S. and Canada.
- Drop-off location lists should be updated regularly to ensure that the retailers are in fact providing battery and cell phone takeback services.
- Efforts to increase public awareness of the program need to be expandedƒnƒ{ recycling bins and promotional materials need to be visible and easily accessible in take-back locations.
- Staff training - so clearly lacking in the sites visited by INFORM - about the importance of rechargeable battery and cell phone recycling programs must be instituted.
