Call2Recycle Canada, Longo’s partner to offer battery recycling

Call2Recycle Canada Inc., a battery collection and recycling program based in Toronto, and Ontario-based grocer Longo’s are partnering to offer shoppers convenient battery recycling at 37 Longo’s stores across the greater Toronto area. According to Longo’s, it is the first grocery chain in Ontario to provide the program.

In a release, Longo’s says this expansion adds to the opportunities guests have to lessen their impact on the environment by returning end-of-life batteries to their local store on their next shopping trip.

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“At Longo’s, we are committed to minimizing our overall impact on the environment and do everything we can to ensure we fuel happier and healthier lives,” Longo’s President Deb Craven says. “Our partnership with Call2Recycle reinforces our commitment to environmental stewardship, one of our three sustainability pillars. The battery recycling program provides a significant opportunity for ourselves and our guests to divert waste and lessen our impact on the environment.”

Call2Recycle Canada President Joe Zenobio says the organization is excited to begin the collaboration. “Through this partnership with a leading, like-minded organization, we continue taking a leading role in the province to expand battery recycling diversion and educate Ontarians about safe recycling practices in a manner that is approachable and accessible,” he adds. “We are pleased to partner with the Longo’s team and give Ontarians the opportunity to drop batteries off on their next shopping trip and protect the environment effortlessly.”

By launching its battery recycling program Sept. 12, Longo’s joined Call2Recycle’s network of over 2,600 battery collection sites in the province. Collected batteries will be sent for processing, where valuable materials like metal alloys are retrieved and used to produce new products such as silverware, bikes and golf clubs, to contribute to a circular economy.

Call2Recycle says it offers Ontarians the highest accessibility rate in Canada to battery recycling drop-off locations, with over 98 percent of Ontarians located within 15 kilometers of a battery collection point. With thousands of visitors each year, Longo’s stores are expected to help increase accessibility and recycling volumes even further in southern Ontario.

To find the nearest battery collection site near you, including one of Longo’s 37 stores, visit www.call2recycle.ca/locator/.