P.E.I. is making strides on battery recycling, says national advocacy group
CBC
Prince Edward Islanders charged ahead in 2024, setting a new record for recycling their used batteries.
Jon McQuaid, the vice president of marketing, communications and innovation at Call2Recycle Canada, said 48,000 kilograms of batteries were recycled in the province last year, "another increase year-over-year on the Island."
That was part of over 6.8 million kilograms of batteries recycled across Canada, he said — including everything from the smallest remote control batteries to power sources used on devices like electric bikes and scooters to large truck engine batteries.
McQuaid said P.E.I. is one of the leading provinces for battery recycling, adding that batteries do not belong in the garbage for several reasons.
Primarily, he said, "We don't want batteries to end up in landfill, where they could pose a risk to wildlife, nature and water."
Then there's the economic cost of throwing batteries away.
McQuaid said recycling them opens the door to creating a circular economy, meaning their components can be reused to make new products ranging from golf clubs to stainless-steel appliances.
One place where people on the Island can recycle their household and motor vehicle batteries is Princess Auto in Charlottetown.
Store leader Mitchell Vogan said he has definitely seen an increase in customers recycling their batteries this year, possibly due in part to several promotional programs that Princess Auto runs.
"If somebody brings back their old [motorized vehicle] battery, we remove that fee off of the new battery, so that it's a way for them to not have to pay that core fee and a way for us to get the batteries in to recycle properly," Vogan said.
He added that sometimes Princess Auto will offer $15 gift cards to people who bring in motorized vehicle batteries without buying a new one, as an incentive for Islanders to keep recycling.
Vogan estimated that the store recycles between 80 and 200 motor vehicle batteries per month.
"Recycling them properly is just… a much safer way for everybody," he said.
Vogan wasn't surprised to learn that the stats show P.E.I. has been recycling more batteries these days. In the last couple of years, he said he has seen more people come in with batteries that they previously hadn't known what to do with.
It all started with a 14-year-old Indigenous boy who was sitting in jail last year, not because he couldn’t get bail, but because he had nowhere to go once released.
Several people dressed as Santa and a group of masked elves were filmed at a grocery store in Montreal on Monday night filling up carts with food.
Three of the biggest players in P.E.I.’s health-care system have reached an agreement that sets more flexible models for how many patients family doctors can and should handle.
A London man is facing charges after allegedly emailing death threats to London's city hall.
Prosecutors have withdrawn a second-degree murder charge against a man who spent 23 years in prison for the killing of a 10-year-old girl in 1989.
The Redwood Meadows fire station was badly damaged by a fire on Wednesday evening.
In a rare use of the provincial government's powers, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has dismissed the entire town council in Victoria, N.L., and appointed a temporary administrator to oversee the affairs of the Conception Bay North community of nearly 1,700 residents.
Police services across northern Ontario say most illicit drugs circulating in their communities are being transported from southern parts of the province, while prescription drugs diverted into the illegal market continue to pose a serious and ongoing threat.
The case of a child who was killed by his mother shortly after being returned from foster care has shed a rare and needed spotlight on the child welfare system, say experts in the field.
G.E. Barbour may be best known for its King Cole tea, but the Sussex company’s peanut butter is apparently what everyone wants overseas.
Seven years into an early onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis, Sandra Demontigny's home is full of reminders.
A blizzard gusting across southern Manitoba is leaving a long list of highway and school closures.
While a blizzard threatened outside, Saskatoon city council endured an icy blast inside city hall from a Riversdale business leader over its homeless initiatives.