What should count as battery "recycling"? Is it good enough to melt single use batteries into nickel mill slag, which is put in roadbeds as "aggregate"? Or should we insist on up-cycling end of life batteries, i.e. carefully separating and reusing each of the hazardous components, as is now done under Ontario's CMHSW program (Orange Drop) program?
Waste Diversion Ontario has retained the highly respected Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) to facilitate a multi-stakeholder process "to develop an end of life single-use battery recycling standard, including definitions and method for calculating battery recycling efficiency" under the Waste Diversion Act, 2002.
"In consultation with stakeholders, RCO will use a transparent process to complete the Review by the end of September 2014. The Review will not affect the timing of the WDO Board's decision on the Call2Recycle Canada ISP for single-use batteries. If this ISP is approved, Call2Recycle would be required to use the new standard."
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