BENEFITS OF BATTERY RECYCLING

Safety:

  • Lithium‑ion batteries and devices containing them should NOT go in household garbage or curbside recycling bins because they can be damaged or crushed during transport/sorting, creating a fire hazard.

  • In return, this can endanger sanitation workers who may encounter discarded batteries and infrastructure.

  • Safety best practices often include taping terminals and/or bagging batteries to prevent shorts and sparks during storage and transport.

Reducing Waste in Landfills:

  • Helps protect local ecosystems from toxic leaks into soil and water.

  • Many battery chemistries contain metals and chemicals that can be harmful if they leak or are improperly managed at the end of life, which is why agencies emphasize separate collection and proper recycling (especially for lithium batteries).

  • Some guidance for households stresses that batteries should NOT be placed in curbside bins or general recycling dumpsters because facilities are not designed to sort them, and they can contaminate recycling streams.

Conservation of Natural Resources:

  • Lithium-ion batteries contain critical minerals, like cobalt and lithium, which are essential to the U.S. economy and are in short supply, with few substitutes. Disposing of these batteries in the trash means losing these resources outright.

Supports New Product Development:

  • Recovered materials can be reused in new electronics, reducing the need for new mining.

  • Minimizes environmental impact and helps stabilize electronic device costs.

Our commitment to recycling started in 2007 at our headquarters in Oskaloosa. With the help of our community partners, we have hosted what is now known as our Annual eCycle Event. This Event, held in the spring, is a way for our community members to recycle their old electronics. This Event has been hosted in Grinnell since 2022, and we hope to add Newton and Ottumwa to our future event locations.

To date, eCycle has prevented over 826,682 pounds of electronic waste from being placed in landfills, and 734,438 pounds have been collected in Oskaloosa alone!

To expand on our commitment to recycling, MCG’s battery recycling program started in 2016. We offer this free service in all of our communities.

Since starting this program, we have collected over 12,400 pounds of batteries. Each of our community offices has battery drop-off tubes that you can access during normal business hours.

We're committed to you, our communities, and the environment!