Waste Management/Schools Receive A+ for Battery Recycling Efforts

摘要

Seeing the exceptional results of using schools as an approach to recycle dry cell batteries, to further promote this method the same approach has been expanded to all the nation's public schools. Starting this year, the EPA has openly asked 1,000 schools of all grade levels from elementary to junior college to help reduce pollution by joining in dry cell battery recycling efforts. It is hoped that this initiative will raise this year's dry cell battery recycling rate by a projected target of 30 percent. The EPA began recycling discarded dry cell batteries from November 1999. However, due to a low willingness to tie in with this program, the recycling rate lingered at a low rate of 5 approx 6 percent up until 2002. To add more momentum, the EPA began linking up with the education system to strengthen elementary and junior high schools' dry cell battery recycling efforts. Through cooperation with the Ministry of Education and each local education bureau, elementary and junior high schools were recruited to initiate their own dry cell battery recycling systems. From September 2002 to the end of February 2003, 262 elementary schools and 101 junior high schools participated in the program, for a total of 363 schools in all.