Battery Recycling Day at Seattle Center today

They can be found in almost every household - unwanted, rechargeable batteries from cellphones, laptops, or other gadgets, taking up space in a drawer or closet.  We know they don’t belong in a landfill, but we're not exactly sure how to get rid of them responsibly.

Luckily, in Washington state it's pretty easy to recycle rechargeable batteries, so you can start cleaning out those drawers and closets today!  There are 700 drop-off locations throughout the state that participate in the Call2Recycle® program, a free rechargeable battery collection and recycling system.

Rep. Steve Tharinger

In order to call attention to the ease of rechargeable battery recycling, the City of Seattle is sponsoring Battery Recycling Day today at the Seattle Center.  From 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., residents can bring their unwanted rechargeable batteries and cell phones to the International Fountain at the Seattle Center.  If you happen to be there around the noon hour, you’ll likely see state Representative Steve Tharinger or Senator Sharon Nelson, or even a member of the Seattle Mariners who will be signing autographs in support of environmentally-responsible battery disposal.

In the 2012 regular session, a bill was sponsored by Rep. Tharinger that would have formalized a program for rechargeable battery recycling in our state.  It received a hearing in two separate committees, but didn’t quite make it to a vote on the House floor.  This is an issue the Legislature may take up again, because even our current voluntary system is doing a stellar job – keeping 230,000 pounds of waste batteries out of our state’s landfills in 2011 alone.

You can read the press release about today's event here.

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