Last Day of 2022 - 2023 Ontario Schools Battery Recycling Challenge!

May 12, 2023


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Today is the final day of the Ontario Schools Battery Recycling Challenge by Raw Materials Company. A special thank you to all the teachers, students, and their families for their hard work this year. 165 schools took the OSBRC Pledge this year, and we estimate that they recycled approximately 400,000 household batteries. Great job!

Together these schools did amazing work to divert harmful materials from community landfills across Ontario. As always, the OSBRC Pledge Prize pool will be finalized once all of the batteries have picked up and sorted over the next month. At first count however, it stands at $2,814 and it looks as though it will be split equally among nine schools!

The Environmental Award has reached $281. Our team will review all of the school submissions over the summer break, and we'll pick one lucky winner. Finally, the OSBRC raised approximately $844 for the SickKids Hospital Foundation!

Next Steps

  • Between now and June 23, 2023, we'll be contacting all OSBRC schools to arrange a time to pick up all the remaining batteries.
  • The batteries collected from the schools will be sorted by chemistry and weighed at our facility in Port Colborne, Ontario.
  • The actual amounts paid out to schools will be based on the actual weight of all the alkaline batteries recycled during the Challenge.
  • The winning schools will be announced by September 11, 2023, and cheques will be delivered to schools at that time.

About the OSBRC

The OSBRC is a recycling challenge for elementary and secondary schools across Ontario. The purpose of the Challenge is to teach students and their families how to safely handle batteries and how to recycle them. Students, teachers, and their families have recycled more than 12 million batteries since the program started in 2014. The Challenge has also awarded $92,704.73 to schools, students, and the SickKids Foundation.

OSBRC schools can download resources, such as lesson plans, that tie into the curriculum. They can also download various posters, activity worksheets and more to keep recycling top of mind throughout the year.

The batteries recycled during the Challenge are recycled at Raw Materials Company in Port Colborne. RMC sorts the batteries by chemistry and then recycles the alkaline batteries using its patented recycling technology. 100% of each alkaline battery is reused and no part of the battery ends up in the landfill.

Did you know?

Lead-acid batteries are the oldest rechargeable batteries still in use today. In Canada, over 98% of all Lead-acid batteries are recovered for recycling.

Find out more about our technology and how together we are turning waste into a valuable resource.