Chula Vista Awareness Campaign: Residents Learn to Properly Manage Disposal of Batteries and Personal Electronics
Today's guest blog is courtesy of NERC Advisory Member The Recycling Partnership. The original post can be read here.
Some batteries and personal electronics (PEs) can explode or cause fires when discarded in household trash or curbside recycling bins/carts. In fact, more than 1,800 waste and recycling facilities in North America—or roughly 40%—experienced fires annually in recent years, according to California’s Statewide Commission on Recycling Markets and Curbside Recycling.
Such incidents can harm workers and damage property and equipment in waste and recycling operations as well as pose dangers to nearby communities. Plus, potentially hazardous material in batteries and PEs could be released as pollutants into the air, soil, and water. Given the rapid increase of batteries and rechargeable electronics, this problem is likely to grow in the future.
To prevent such hazards, citizens must…