U.S. Army Starts Battery Recycling Program

The United States Army is launching a first of its kind recycling program at its Fort Drum Army post in upstate New York. The new program will help soldiers and base employees improve their recycling of household single-use batteries.

The battery recycling initiative is brand new to the Army and the idea was originally conceived by the Public Works Environmental Division. If the test pilot is successful, it the program will likely be implemented at bases around the country.

Collection of the batteries will be simple and easy as the new containers are attained to the current recycling bins that are placed in strategic and high-traffic locations throughout the base.

As battery usage is high on the base, the effort to recycle came about as a way to reduce trash disposal costs. The Army must ship all solid waste to off-site landfills and the less that it considered waste, the greater the savings.

The base will send all collected batteries to the base’s scrap metal purchaser. For now, only household alkaline batteries will be recycled. Lead-acid, rechargeable, or any other batteries that would be considered toxic waste will be disposed of according to state and federal guidelines.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: How many batteries does your business use every month? Instead of putting them in the trash, consider a special recycling program – you’ll be helping to keep them out of the landfill while cutting your costs!