Manitobans Step Up for Battery Recycling Contests

Call2Recycle school and library collection contests garner over 4,000 kg of batteries this fall!

WINNIPEG, Dec. 7, 2016 /CNW/ - Call2Recycle Canada, Inc., Canada's national consumer battery collection and recycling organization, announces the culmination of two exciting programs that collected 4,118 kg of batteries!  

Call2Recycle® teamed up with Take Pride Winnipeg to launch a Manitoba-wide Back-to-School Battery Recycling Contest to inspire school children to keep batteries out of landfills and help protect the environment. The contest challenged schools across the province to collect the most batteries for recycling. The winning school receives a grand prize donation of $1,500 for their school, while three additional schools with the best battery recycling displays are rewarded with $500 donations. From September 19 to September 30, 2016, students from across the province decorated their schools with posters, held battery drives, set-up displays in the lobby using the battery boxes, and most importantly, collected batteries for recycling with the help of their family, friends and neighbors.

Frontenac School in Winnipeg earned the grand prize by collecting 528 kg of batteries. Members from the school were onsite to receive the prize during an awards presentation on Tuesday, December 6, 2016. The three runners up, who demonstrated outstanding effort and creative displays, include Treherne Collegiate Institute in Treherne, Gladstone Elementary School in Winnipeg and Dr. F.W.L. Hamilton School in East Saint Paul.

In its 3^rd year, the annual Manitoba Waste Ace Library Contest was activated in libraries across the province. This program focuses on informing residents about battery recycling through public education displays. St. Boniface Library, a branch of Winnipeg Public Library, in Winnipeg was awarded a grand prize donation of $1,500 for their collection of 111 kg of batteries during Waste Reduction Week.

Call2Recycle is also recognizing another outstanding library branch this year: Henderson Library in Winnipeg, a branch of Winnipeg Public Library, was awarded a $1,500 prize to recognize its impressive and continued effort in battery collection throughout 2016 with a total of 615 kg since the beginning of 2016. Representatives from Henderson were onsite for an awards presentation on Monday, December 5, 2016.

"Schools and libraries represent two collection channels that are not only environmentally-committed, but provide a great platform to educate Manitobans about battery recycling. We are extremely impressed and thankful to the students and library participants across Manitoba who collected a combined 4,118 kilograms of batteries and cellphones this fall," said Delphine Lagourgue, Director Central Canada, Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. "More and more Manitobans are recognizing the importance of properly collecting batteries to keep them out of landfills, which allows the recovered materials from the recycled batteries to be used in new products. Thank you to everyone who participated in these programs and helping keep the province a bit greener!"

Call2Recycle's public engagement contests are designed to help educate and empower citizens across Manitoba with the knowledge battery recycling is crucial in order to keep batteries out of landfills where they can potentially harm the environment. Call2Recycle accepts household batteries (weighing up to 5 kg). To find drop-off locations nearest you, visit call2recycle.ca/locator.

About Call2Recycle Canada, Inc.
Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. is committed to protecting and preserving the environment through collecting and recycling consumer batteries. Founded in 1997, the not-for-profit organization works on behalf of stakeholders to provide its battery recycling program to consumers across Canada through 8,000 convenient drop-off locations. Visit call2recycle.ca.

SOURCE Call2Recycle

Emma McKay, Environics Communications, [email protected], [phone]; Linda Gabor, VP of Marketing & Customer Service, Call2Recycle®, [email protected], [phone]