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According to Call2Recycle, North America’s only free battery and cell phone collection program, battery recycling is on the rise, although the increase is coming from surprising places. While the increase – up more than eight percent so far this year over 2009 - demonstrates that on a whole, Americans are recycling more, the states with the highest percentage of increase are all in the south, a region that traditionally is slow to adopt sustainability programs. States such as California, Minnesota and Vermont that are typically among the nation’s leaders in green initiatives have had a dip in battery recycling.

So far in 2010, Call2Recycle has seen the largest increases in battery recycling from South Carolina (99 percent increase), Kentucky (59 percent increase), Arkansas (55 percent increase), North Carolina (53 percent) and Mississippi (49 percent increase). During the same period of time, battery recycling has decreased by 7 percent in California, 25 percent in Minnesota, and 3 percent in Vermont.

“The increase in recycling in southern states shows significant changes in behavior. Southerners are hearing the message about how important recycling is to the future of their communities, and are acting on it in tangibly positive ways,” said Carl Smith, president and CEO of Call2Recycle.

“While we are a bit concerned with the decline in battery collections from certain states, traditionally green states such as California, Minnesota and Vermont have a great opportunity to continue to lead our country in environmental efforts. We want to work together with our partners throughout those states to ensure that battery recycling remains a priority as they expand their sustainability efforts,” Smith added.

The majority of the batteries Call2Recycle collects from consumers come from its partnerships with major retailers that serve as drop off locations. So far this year, battery collections from these retail partners are up by only 2.6 percent nationwide, while industries such as healthcare, higher education and military installments have experienced much larger increases due to an emphasis on sustainability initiatives in day-to-day operations.