Alberta 2015 Annual Report

Submitted by: Call2Recycle Canada, Inc.

Submitted to: Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development 10th Flr Oxbridge Place 9820-106 St. NW Edmonton, AB T5K 2J6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Executive Summary ...... 3

2. About Call2Recycle ...... 3

3. Raising Awareness ...... 4

4. Collections ...... 6 4.1 Collection Sites ...... 6 4.2 Performance Results ...... 7

5. Process and Product/Component Management ...... 8 Collection ...... 8 Shipping and Sorting...... 9 Processing ...... 9

Summary ...... 11

Appendix A –Battery Stewards...... 12

Appendix B – Samples of Education & Promotional Activities ...... 16

Appendix C – Condensed 2015 & 2014 Consolidated Combined Financial Statements ... 20

1. Executive Summary

Since 1997, Call2Recycle has collected and recycled rechargeable batteries from consumers across Alberta. In 2012, Call2Recycle expanded its service in the province to a voluntary all-battery recycling program that collects dry cell batteries weighing less than five kilograms from consumers.

This year was another one of significant growth for Call2Recycle’s battery collection activities in Alberta. Call2Recycle exceeded the previous year’s performance by 50% and diverted a record-breaking 207,671 kilograms of household batteries from landfills in the province. Awareness initiatives generated hundreds of thousands of electronic and print media impressions, raising the profile of battery recycling as a key part of responsible environmental management. These online, national and provincial promotions along with creative on-the-ground campaigns contributed to the boost in collections.

This annual report has been developed by Call2Recycle to report on its voluntary collection and waste management of primary (single use) and rechargeable batteries in Alberta between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015.

2. About Call2Recycle

Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. is the Canadian arm of North America’s first and largest battery stewardship program. Our program was established to fulfill the product stewardship obligations of battery manufacturers, manufacturers whose products contain batteries, and certain distributors and retailers of products as may be appropriate. Today, Call2Recycle works on behalf of more than 300 battery and product manufacturers (See Appendix A).

Since 1997, Call2Recycle Canada has operated a best-in-class battery collection and recycling program. We collect and recycle batteries and cellphones from municipalities, businesses and consumers at no cost to them, and we promote environmental sustainability across North America. Our goal is to divert as many batteries as possible from landfill.

With a network of more than 8,000 collection locations across Canada, our program ensures convenience and efficiency. Call2Recycle’s easy drop, seal and ship collection process makes recycling batteries as simple as possible for both consumers and program participants so that anyone can be a partner in environmental stewardship. Call2Recycle was the first program of its kind to receive Responsible Recycling Practices Standard (R2) certification, which recognizes that our program has met stringent environmental, public, and worker health and safety requirements.

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3. Raising Awareness

For the Call2Recycle program to be successful, it is necessary for consumers across the province to be aware of the importance of responsible battery disposal and to be inspired to recycle batteries regularly. Call2Recycle therefore dedicates significant time and resources to create innovative approaches that educate consumers about the importance of responsible battery management, draw attention to the Call2Recycle program and collection locations, and inspire consumers to take action and recycle their batteries with us.

Call2Recycle employed an integrated marketing campaign to increase awareness and battery collections in Alberta, including consumer-focused programs and contests, print, digital and radio campaigns, social media activities, and newsletters and sponsorship initiatives.

Website Visits to the Call2Recycle website, call2recycle.ca, increased this Red Deer School Battery year by 50%. Albertans were among those who turned to the Drive, Waste Reduction site in greater numbers this year to get information about the Week, October 2015 program, the importance of battery recycling, and collection Red Deer is a city with a locations. Web traffic from users in the province increased by population of 100,000, and is 56% to 5,425 visitors in 2015 from 3,470 in 2014. Activity on committed to environmental Call2Recycle’s Alberta site locator, which helps consumers find a sustainability. During Waste drop-off location near them—experienced a more than sevenfold growth in 2015. More than 112,000 people used the Reduction Week, nine service, up from 14,999 in 2014. From access to articles, schools competed against information about battery collection drives, downloadable each other to see who could resources and stewardship information, we will continue to collect the most batteries to populate the website with valuable content for consumers and win a great prize for their participants. school. Together, the schools motivated each other to Daylight Savings Campaign collect almost 2,000 kg of In the fall, Call2Recycle launched a nationwide campaign linking batteries, keeping them out battery recycling to the shift from Daylight Saving Time. The of the Red Deer landfill. campaign leveraged consumers’ awareness of the importance of changing batteries in household smoke detectors when they turn their clocks back. Call2Recycle’s campaign—which included newspaper, radio and online ads—encouraged Canadians to take one more step to protect the environment by recycling their old smoke detector batteries and other used batteries around their homes. The campaign generated more than 500,000 media impressions, and reached 4,000 people on social media.

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Earth Day Canada This year marked the third year of Call2Recycle’s partnership with Earth Day Canada (EDC), throughout which we have developed key education resources and engagement strategies for teachers, students and parents to participate in battery recycling across Canada. This year, we collaborated on the EcoKids Battery Hero and EcoKids Battery Busters contests. The contests received more than 2,000 entries and were an excellent awareness-raising tool to create a new generation of committed battery recyclers.

2015 Leader in Sustainability Through support from Call2Recycle, EDC’s EcoKids also Awards developed five educational webisodes for students and educators to learn more about batteries, consider their Four Alberta-based waste minimization behaviour, and take advantage of the organizations—Canadian Energy Call2Recycle battery recycling program. and Power Corporation, City of Edmonton - Eco Stations, Recycle Government Newsletter Logic, Inc., and Shanked Call2Recycle produces and distributes a quarterly Computer Recycling Inc.—were newsletter specifically for our government partners, to recognized with Call2Recycle’s provide ongoing updates on the activities of the program Leader in Sustainability Award for and our program partners. The newsletter is sent to 2015. The award acknowledges approximately 200 municipalities and municipal partners, these organizations’ exceptional as well as Provincial staff and officials engaged in stewardship or environmental portfolios. commitment to environmental

sustainability as demonstrated by Advertising significant collection returns and Call2Recycle’s multi-channel marketing activities included promotion of recycling activities. consumer-focused ads, as well as radio spots in the Canada-wide media. We also ran prominent industry- focused ads in trade publications, including Municipal Information Network, Recycling Product News, Solids Waste & Recycling Magazine and Municipal World. The integrated media blitz resulted in more than eight million impressions being achieved.

Events Call2Recycle was present at the joint 2015 Conference on Canadian Stewardship (CCS) and The Recycling Council of Alberta (RCA) Conference in Banff, Alberta. CCS is where industry and government come together to discuss current and topical issues affecting product stewardship in Canada. The RCA promotes and facilitates waste reduction, recycling and resource conservation in the Province of Alberta and organizes an annual waste reduction conference that provides valuable educational and networking opportunities.

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Other Promotional Activities In addition to the national and provincial activities highlighted in this section, Call2Recycle does the following to raise awareness and increase battery recycling behaviour in Alberta:

 Operates a Customer Service call centre that assists consumers to find drop-off locations, educates them about battery recycling and provides a variety of other battery-related information.  Distributes promotional items (e.g. bookmarks, consumer brochures, knapsacks, pencil cases, magnets) to and through partners  Maintains a robust social media presence on Facebook and Twitter  Produces regular email blasts conveying new programs and highlights  Distributes a monthly newsletter to collection sites and partners  Distributes a quarterly government newsletters targeted at key public sector officials

Samples of promotional materials and coverage of the Call2Recycle program are provided in Appendix B.

4. Collections

4.1 Collection Sites Call2Recycle’s consumer battery collections principally come from drop-off boxes that are strategically located to maximize convenience and usage. These include public sites, which are accessible to everyone, and private sites, which are generally located in organizations and only accessible to the organization’s staff and visitors.

The number of active Call2Recycle collection locations dipped by a marginal 1% in 2015, from 669 to 660. We partner with collection sites based on various factors, such as population, proximity to consumers, ease of access, and connection to batteries or recycling. Fluctuations in site numbers reflect our continual search for new locations and monitoring of existing activity to eliminate non-participating sites. An “active” site is defined as one that shipped at least one box of batteries within the past 12 months, or that enrolled in the program during the past 365 days regardless of whether or not it has sent in a full box of collected batteries.

The following charts illustrate the distribution of Call2Recycle collection locations in Alberta.

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2015 Public and Private Collection Sites 2015 2014 Change Public 222 267 17% Private 438 402 9% Total 660 669 1%

2015 Active Collection Sites by Sector Sector 2015 2014 # Increase/ % Increase/ Decrease Decrease Business Services 242 243 1 - Environmental 28 36 8 12% Government 89 85 4 5% Manufacturing 55 54 1 2% Retail 244 245 1 - Other 2 6 4 67 Total 660 669 9 1%

4.2 Performance Results Call2Recycle’s voluntary Alberta battery program collections continued their significant growth trend for both primary (single-use) and rechargeable batteries in 2015. Alberta collections crossed the 200,000 kg mark, with 207,641 kg of batteries collected over the year. This represents a 50% increase from 2014.

Call2Recycle Collections by Weight (Kg*) Type 2015 2014 % Change Collections Collections Primary (Single Use) 145,298 89,361 63% Rechargeable 62,343 49,158 27% Total 207,641 138,519 50% *Call2Recycle records battery weight in pounds. Conversion to kilograms is based on a rate of 0.453592. Accurate within a margin of +/- 2%.

Four metals/metal compounds are extracted from rechargeable batteries. This year saw increases in all compounds except lead (SSLA) batteries, which declined by 18%. Collections of Nickel-Cadmium and Nickel-Metal-Hydride batteries increased significantly this year, after a drop in 2014. Among single-use batteries, Alkaline and Lithium batteries continue to dominate collections, with marginal representation Page 7 of 21

from zinc carbonate and mercury batteries. The following charts summarize the province’s battery collections by chemistry (in kilograms) this year:

Rechargeable Battery Collection by Chemistry (Kg*) Material Name 2015 2014 Change Ni-Cd 21,390 13,059 64% Ni-Mh 6,768 4,362 55% Li-Ion 26,363 22,189 19% SSLA 7,822 9,547 18% Rechargeable Chemistry Total 62,343* 49,158* 27% *Call2Recycle records battery weight in pounds. Conversion to kilograms is based on a rate of 0.453592. Accurate within a margin of +/- 2%.

Primary (Single Use) Battery Collection by Chemistry (Kg*) Material Name 2015 2014 % Change Alkaline 141,726 86,999 63% Lithium 3,559 2,363 50% Zinc Carbonate 11 - - Mercury 3 - - Total 145,298* 89,362 63% * Accurate within a margin of +/- 3%. Based on a conversion rate from pounds to kilograms of 0.453592.

5. Process and Product/Component Management

Call2Recycle is an R2:2013-certified organization. This certification from the Responsible Recycling Practices Standard is the highest achievable standard for recycling organizations. It indicates that the certificate holder has met stringent requirements in areas of environmental, public and worker health and safety. Our certified battery recycling process is outlined below.

Collection The Call2Recycle program process starts by providing consumers with easy access to collection sites to enable maximum participation in the program. Through collection partners across the province and in a range of sectors, we offer consumers convenience and a simple drop-off process. Our collection partners use one of two collection methods: the box program or the bulk program. Box program sites receive Call2Recycle’s bag-and-drop, seal-and-ship collection boxes free of charge. Each box holds up to 30 kilograms of batteries. Our bulk program caters to facilities that generate large quantities of batteries for recycling (250 kg minimum per shipment). Call2Recycle covers the cost of shipping for both the bulk and box programs.

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Shipping and Sorting Batteries and cellphones collected through Call2Recycle in Alberta are sorted and consolidated by one of our Canadian sorting facilities. Contents are weighed and sorted according to battery chemistry, and readied for shipping to appropriate recycling processors based on their chemical composition.

Call2Recycle operates in accordance with intra- and inter-provincial shipping and transportation standards established by Transport Canada, Environment Canada, the Alberta Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, and all other provincial environment and transportation ministry approvals. All shipments transported internationally are manifested according to Environment Canada, Transport Canada, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Transportation.

Processing Call2Recycle Canada is committed to meeting the highest global standards for safe and effective battery processing and to reclaiming as much of the batteries we collect as possible to divert them from the waste stream.

Different battery chemistries require different reclamation methods, and Call2Recycle has partnerships with various processors to ensure optimal performance. We seek local processing partners wherever possible to reduce our transportation footprint. All of our processing facilities use the latest and proven- effective thermal, mechanical and chemical processes to recover materials such as nickel, iron, lead, cadmium, and cobalt. These are either returned to rechargeable battery manufacturers or used to make other products.

The following chart outlines the Call2Recycle process from collection to recovery.

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Summary

Once again, the Call2Recycle program generated robust collections in Alberta in 2015. Battery deposits increased for both the rechargeable and single-use categories, with overall collections growing by 50%. Albertans diverted more than 207,000 kg of used batteries from the waste stream through our program.

The success of the program is due, in part, to our integrated marketing campaign, which leveraged partnerships with organization like Earth Rangers and Earth Day Canada, consumer and trade advertising, and engaging consumer campaign. Four Alberta-based organizations were recognized by Call2Recycle with our Leader in Sustainability for their outstanding collection results and commitment to promoting sustainability.

Call2Recycle is committed to encouraging and supporting Albertans to responsibly manage their used batteries at the end of their life. Working with governments, retailers, and environmental organizations, we will strive to continue to offer the best value for our partners and the best results for the benefit of our planet..

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Appendix A –Battery Stewards

As at December 31, 2015

3M Personal Safety Division Canac-Marquis Grenier Ltee. Accell North America Canadian Tire Acco Brands Corporation Canon USA Inc. Ace Hardware Corporation Casio America, Inc. Acer America Corporation Cell-Con Inc. Advanced Battery Systems, Inc. Chenzhou Grand-Pro Tech Co.,Ltd. Agilent Technologies Chervon Limited Allied Intl/Allied Tools Chrysler Canada Inc. Alltrade Tools LLC Cisco Systems Inc. Alpha Source, Inc. Clean Republic SODO, LLC Amax Products Cleva North America/LawnMaster Amazon CO-OP Atlantic Amazon.com, Inc. Coleman Company American Lawn Mower Co Corporate Express American Toppower Costco Anton/Bauer Couche Tard APC - Schneider Electric CTE Energy Co., Ltd. Asus Computer International Dantona Industries/ Ultralast Avex Electronics Corporation Deere & Company (John Deere) Baccus Global Delhaize America (Hannaford Supermarkets) barnesandnoble.com, LLC Dell Canada Inc. Batteries du Quebec Inc. Dell Inc. Battery Specialties Deltran USA LLC Bayco Products Digi-Key Corporation BCBGMAXAZRIA DLG Power Battery (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd. Belkin International, Inc. Do It Best Best Buy Canada Dollar General Best Buy Co., Inc. Dollarama BionX International Dongguan Golden Cel Battery Co. Bissell Homecare, Inc. Dorcy International, Inc. Black & Decker Corporation Duracell Canada (P&G) BlackBerry Duracell/Div of P&G BMR Group Inc. Duracell/Gillette Company/Proctor & Gamble BMW Canada Inc. Eaton Corporation Bose Corporation Eco-Stream Canada Braun/P&G/Gillette Enerco Group Inc. Brother International Energizer Battery Manufacturing, Inc. Bushnell, Inc. Energizer Canada Page 12 of 21

Energy Sales House of Batteries EnerSys Delaware Inc. HTC (High Tech Computer) Epson America, Inc. Husqvarna AB Esselte Corporation Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. Eveready (Energizer) IDX System Technology Inc. Evergreen (C.P.) USA Inc. Illinois Tool Works Excell Battery Company (W) Indigo Books Inc. EZsmart Gutter Cleaner, LLC Industrial Battery Service Inc. Familiprix Ingersoll Rand Family Dollar Inspired Energy LLC FdK America Intec Industries Co. Ltd. Fedco Electronics, Inc. Intermetro Industries Corp. Ferno - Washington, Inc. Interstate Batteries Recycling, LLC Finish Thompson, Inc. Invacare Corporation Ford of Canada Invox Hardware Limited FujiFilm Holdings America Corp iRobot Corp. Garmin International, Inc. iTech GE Healthcare Canada, Inc. ITO Co., Ltd. General Motors Jean Coutu Group Inc. General Wireless Operations (Old R/S) Jiawei Technologies (USA) Ltd. Getac Inc. JLG Industries Inc. Giant Tiger Stores Limited Jvckenwood USA Corp. Gibson Innovations KAN Battery Co., Ltd. GiiNii Tech Corporation Karcher North America Global Technology Systems, Inc. Keysight Technologies Gold Peak Industries (NA), Inc. Kia Canada Inc. GP Batteries International Limited Kodak Canada GP Battery Marketing Inc. Kwonnie Electrical Products, Ltd. GRACO, Inc. L'Image Home Products Greatbatch Inc. Lasource Division Gestion Green Smoke Inc. Quemar Inc. Groupe BMR Inc. Le Groupe Jean Coutu GS Battery (USA) Inc. Lego Group Harris Corporation Lego Systems Inc. Hasbro Lenmar Enterprises, Inc. Hewlett Packard Lenovo Canada Inc. Hilti, Inc. Lexel Battery Co Ltd. Hitachi Koki Canada Co. LG Electronics MobileComm USA Hitachi Koki USA Ltd. Loblaw Inc. HOBBICO, Inc. Logitech Inc. The Home Depot Mag Instrument, Inc. Home Hardware Makita Canada, Inc. HoMedics Makita USA Honeywell International Inc. Mattel, Inc. Page 13 of 21

Maxell Corporation of America Positec Tool Corporation McKesson Canada Corporation PowerMax Battery USA McMahon Distributeur Inc. ProTeam, Inc. Meritool LLC Pure Energy Metabo Corporation Quality One Wireless Metro Rapport, Inc. formerly Car-Go Metro Richelieu Inc. Rayovac/Spectrum Brands Michael Stores Inc. Richpower Industries, Inc. Microsoft Ridge Tool Company (RIDGID) Midland Radio Corporation RiteAid Miller Mfg. Co. RKI Instrument, Inc. Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp. Robert Bosch Tool Corporation Mitsubishi Motors of Canada Rocket Batteries Canada Motorola Mobility LLC Rona Inc. MTD Products Inc. Ronda Group Co., Ltd. Musco Royal Consumer Information Products, Inc. myCharge Rozon Batteries Inc. National Battery RRC Power Solutions National Power Corp Sail Plein Air Inc. Neptune Technology Group Inc. Samsung Electronics Co. Netgear, Inc. SANYO Energy USA Corp. Nikon Canada Inc. Scosche Industries Nippon Primex Inc. Scotts Canada Ltd. Nissan Canada Inc. Sears Canada Nobil Instrument Inc. SEE CGREEN1 GREENSMOKE Normark Innovations Inc. Senco Products, Inc. Novatel Wireless Inc. Sensidyne LP NYCL Company, Inc. Sharp Electronic of Canada Ltd. Nylube Products Company LLC Shenzhen Jingkehui Electronic Co, Ltd. O2COOL, LLC Shoppers Drugmart Inc. Olympus America Inc. Sigma Corporation OOMA Inc. Snap-on Inc. Oracle America, Inc. Sobey’s Quebec Inc. Original Power Inc. Sony Canada Palladium Energy Sony Electronics, Inc. Panasonic Canada Inc. Southern Telecom, Inc. Panasonic Corporation Southwick Technologies Inc. Panasonic North America Inc. Southwire Company Pantech Co. Ltd. Spectrum Brands Pelican Products, Inc. SRAM, LLC Philips Consumer Lifestyle Stanley Black & Decker Corporation Plantronics, Inc. Staples Canada, Inc. PLR IP Holdings, LLC (Polaroid) Star Micronics Co., Ltd. Polycom, Inc. STIHL Incorporated Page 14 of 21

Stihl Limited Trek Bicycle Corporation StorTronics True Value Streamlight, Inc. TTEK Assemblies Inc. Summer Infant, Inc. UAP Inc. Surefire, LLC Ultralife Corporation Suzuki Canada Uniden America Corporation Tacony Corporation Uniprix Technical Power Systems Inc. Universal Power Group Techtronic Industries Co Ltd Varta Microbattery Inc. Techtronic Industries GmbH Venom Group International Test Rite Products Corp Vernier Software & Technology Texas Instruments Inc. Vibratex, Inc. The Source Vizio Inc. TNR Technical VTech Telecommunications Ltd. Toro Company Wacom Technology Corp. Toshiba America Walmart Canada Corporation Toyota Canada Inc. Water Pik Inc. Toys R Us Canada Ltd. Wohler USA Inc. Tractor Supply Zebra Technologies Transcosmos America Inc. Zippo Manufacturing Company Traxxas L.P.

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Appendix B – Samples of Education & Promotional Activities

Call2Recycle Website Articles

Trade Advertising

Partnerships

EcoKids Battery Hero contest promotion

Campaigns & Advertorials

Appendix C – Condensed 2015 & 2014 Consolidated Combined Financial Statements