Is Recycling Missing a Standard of Measurement?

Recently, Call2Recycle®, the only free rechargeable battery and cell phone collection program in North America, and the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) released the results of a comprehensive study on how to improve battery recycling metrics.

The report, “Battery Performance Metrics: Recommendations for Best Practice,” examines differing ways that stewardship performance is gauged, offering guidance to policy makers, manufacturers and program participants on how to evaluate and strengthen battery collection initiatives.

According to the report, without knowing how well a collection effort is working, public‐ and private‐sector decision‐makers have little basis to invest more resources to strengthen programs. Photo: Amanda Wills, Earth911.com

While the study directly relates to the collection and recycling of various batteries, the overarching theme is applicable to the recycling industry as a whole.

According to Carl Smith, president and CEO of the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (the organization which operates Call2Recycle), the goal of the study “is to influence stakeholders to agree on a set of appropriate performance metrics and establish processes that will standardize measurement for many organizations committed to collecting and recycling products.”

Citing the fact that governments and businesses currently use a variety of methodologies to calculate collection and participation rates, discrepancies often arise in the perceived success of programs. Various aspects of the “green” sector are already calling for further standardization of measurement and terms, especially as it relates to greenwashing.

According to a press release, “Call2Recycle and PSI hope this report will open a dialogue that leads to common metrics and greater access to data to evaluate the performance of battery collection programs.” Call2Recycle and PSI support “the assembly of an advisory panel of experts to research, discuss and seek consensus on measuring performance, setting ambitious performance goals, and maximizing battery collection and recycling.”

Standardizing how batteries are recycled has been a topic of debate for some time, especially as it applies to single-use batteries.