Market Opportunity?

Market Opportunity?

The mark of how environmentally responsible these days seems to be how little goes into a landfill--and this item about recycling batteries from San Francisco suggests a market opportunity:

According to Toxco Inc., they are the only company in North America that can recover zinc and manganese from alkaline batteries; they are one of two in North America that can recycle nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal-hydride batteries; and they are the only company in the world that can recover lithium from any size or type of lithium battery.

Only? Something tells me that they are taking full advantage of that opportunity in what they charge for recycling batteries. And from a carbon standpoint, does it really make sense to ship batteries this far for recycling?

What Happens to Alkaline Batteries?
We ship alkaline batteries to AERC in Hayward. AERC is a licensed facility that recycles universal waste (electronics, fluorescent lamps, batteries).

AERC ships the batteries to Kinsbursky Brothers Inc., a transfer storage and disposal facility. Kinsbursky Brothers Inc. is a co-owner of Toxco Inc.

Kinsbursky consolidates the batteries into full truckloads and sends the batteries to Toxco Inc in Trail, British Columbia, Canada, where they are recycled.