ATLANTA, August 29, 2002 — New year, new books… new cellphone! According to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive and Telephia, 35 percent of young adults between the ages of 18-to-24 use more than 500 minutes a month on their cellphones as compared to 20 percent of all cellphone users – that’s not only a lot of talking, but a lot of juice drained from the phone’s battery!
A lot of people don’t know that the rechargeable batteries that power their portable electronics products – including cellphones, laptops, PDAs, DVD players and even electric toothbrushes – can and should be recycled.
So just remember, when trading in last year’s cellphone for a new one, take a minute to remove the old rechargeable battery and recycle it.
Recycling your rechargeable batteries is easy to do and helps keep the environment clean.
The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) – a nonprofit, public service organization dedicated to rechargeable battery recycling.
All types of rechargeable batteries found in portable electronic products can be recycled: Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd), Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) and Small Sealed Lead (Pb)*.
( * weighing less than 2 lbs. or 1 kg.)
You can find the nearest drop-off location by going online at www.rbrc.org or calling
1-800-8-BATTERY. There are over 30,000 retail and community battery collection locations throughout the U.S. that participate in RBRC’s battery recycling program. Participating retailers include: Best Buy, Circuit City, The Home Depot, RadioShack, Sears, Target, Wal-Mart and many more. And, the best part about RBRC’s battery recycling program: it’s free!
To maximize the use of your rechargeable batteries and portable electronics products, make sure to follow these tips from RBRC:
- Follow the charging guidelines provided by the manufacturer. Depending on the individual product, there are specific initial battery charging times (usually overnight) before using the product for the first time. This will enable you to obtain maximum battery capacity.
- Let your battery cool to room temperature before recharging. The charge efficiency of most batteries is greatly reduced at elevated temperatures.
- Recharge batteries when they are near to fully discharged. You can tell that a battery is discharged by a sharp drop in power or speed.
- Keep the contact of rechargeable batteries clean – wipe them with a cloth soaked in alcohol.
- Never return a fully-charged battery to the charger for an extra boost. This will overcharge the cells and shorten the life of the battery.
- Never leave your cellular phone, camcorder, etc., in the charger when not charging, unless approved by the manufacturer’s instructions. Don’t use your charger as a stand! Continuous charging will shorten battery life.
- If your rechargeable battery will no longer hold a charge, don’t throw it away – recycle it! Call 1-800-8-BATTERY or go online at www.rbrc.org to find the nearest retail site or recycling center.
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About Call2Recycle®
Call2Recycle is the industry’s first and only product
stewardship program for rechargeable batteries. The nonprofit program
is administered by the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation
(RBRC), a public service organization dedicated to rechargeable battery
recycling. There are more than 30,000 Call2Recycle drop-off locations
throughout the U.S. and Canada. More than 175 manufacturers
and marketers of portable rechargeable batteries and products show
their commitment to conserve natural resources and prevent rechargeable
batteries from entering the solid waste stream by funding the
Call2Recycle program. In pursuit of its mission, Call2Recycle also
collects old cellphones, which are either recycled or refurbished and
resold when possible with a portion of the proceeds benefiting select
charities. For more information, call 877-2-RECYCLE or visit www.call2recycle.org.
JUN