INTERSTATE BATTERY SYSTEM OF CANADA 2015 PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP ANNUAL REPORT for MANITOBA
Table of Contents Educational Material and Strategies...3 Collection Facilities...3 Reducing Environmental Impact... 5 Pollution Prevention Hierarchy... 7 Lead Recycling Process... 8 Recovery Rate... 9 Financial Statement... 9 2
This 2015 Annual Report for Interstate Battery System of Canada, Inc. (IBSC) Battery Stewardship program is based on requirements from Guideline 2010-01E, Section 19 of the Household Hazardous Material and Prescribed Material Stewardship Regulation (MR 16/2010). The Act and Regulation is The Waste Reduction and Prevention Act, CCSM W40; Household Hazardous Material and Prescribed Material Stewardship Regulation (MR 16/2010). Educational Material and Strategies a. One of Interstate Batteries educational tools is our website (www.interstatebatteries.com) which direct consumers to Interstate Battery retail dealers where they can leave scrap batteries for recycling. b. In addition, our scrap battery collection model is different from most battery distribution companies. We have 620 retail battery dealers in Manitoba which sell Interstate batteries and which collect a scrap battery each time that they sell a new Interstate battery. c. Interstate has joined other product stewardship agencies in Manitoba on two separate websites that provide lead-acid battery recycling information and list our drop-off locations for scrap Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries. As part of a mandate from the government, SLA battery recycling information is available through Green Manitoba http://greenmanitoba.ca/pros/. A second organization, Recycle Manitoba www.recyclemanitoba.ca/about, is made up of a number of the same Stewardship companies and provides an additional resource for Manitobans to find out more about recycling scrap batteries. d. Interstate Batteries has been voted by automotive technicians the best battery brand in North America for the last 8 years. Thanks to our reputation as the best battery, many people know both our brand and that they can recycle their scrap batteries through us. e. Another way to publicize our battery recycling program is through Take Pride Winnipeg. Interstate collected used batteries in a shopping center to help promote recycling and responsible product disposal. f. Interstate Batteries in Winnipeg also worked with a Lions Club and a 4H Club when they sponsored projects to collect spent lead-acid batteries. Interstate paid the clubs for scrap batteries collected and then sent the batteries to a lead smelter to be recycled. Collection Facilities a. Interstate Battery System of Manitoba in Winnipeg is the only Interstate Battery warehouse in Manitoba. All scrap lead-acid batteries recovered from our dealers throughout the province are returned to our warehouse in Winnipeg. At the warehouse, the scrap batteries are consolidated and tested in order to find out if the vehicle batteries can be recharged and sold as used batteries. The batteries that cannot be sold as used batteries are securely palletized and shipped to Canadian government approved lead smelter every week or two. b. While Interstate s Stewardship Plan identifies more than 600 collection sites across the province, all of the batteries are consolidated on one collection site which is our distributorship warehouse in Winnipeg. The more than 600 sites are retail dealers of new battery. Those dealers sell new 3
Interstate batteries, and for each new battery they sell, they are supposed to return to Interstate Battery a used battery. Of the more than 600 retail dealers that we describe in our Stewardship Program plan, 28 of them have agreed to collect additional scrap SLA batteries on our behalf. People who are aware of our program can return scrap batteries to any of those dealers. In turn, Interstate Batteries will buy those scrap batteries from our dealers and we will send them to a secondary lead smelter to be recycled. c. Our service model is different from many service models in the lead-acid battery industry because we send trucks to deliver batteries every day to retail battery dealers and we retrieve scrap batteries as well. Some other battery companies ship new batteries directly to their retail dealers by a freight line without requiring their customers to return scrap batteries. Our route trucks service our retail dealers throughout the province every two weeks and recover not only what we receive for the 1-for-1 exchange on new batteries sold, but also recover additional scrap batteries that have been left at those dealerships. As for product recovery rate targets, we always expect our scrap battery recovery rate to be at least 100% of the new batteries we sell. In 2015, the retail battery dealers of Interstate Battery of Manitoba did achieve more than the 1-for-1 return rate. d. Interstate Batteries of Manitoba also has an employee who, as a part of his job, buys scrap leadacid batteries. His usual customers are scrap yards, used car lots, and new car dealerships. We service our retail dealers on a regular basis, including operations as far north as The Pas, MB. With dealers in nearly every major metropolitan area in Manitoba, we estimate that our recycling program is convenient for approximately 90% of the entire population of Manitoba. Collection facility Interstate Battery System of Manitoba Collection Depots All Temp Auto Electric Start N Charge Laramee Enterprises Riverton Agri Auto Repair Northland Leisure Ste. Anne Auto Body Ltd. Rolly Built Inc. PBX Truck Service Martin Diesel Service Address 10 Keenleyside Street, Unit G Winnipeg, MB R2L-2B9 (204) 694-2999 Address 193 Loewen Blvd. Steinbach, MB R5G 0L1 470 Cargill Rd. Winkler, MB R6W 4A7 70-10 th St. Portage La Prairie, MB R1N 0K8 26 Riverton Ave. Riverton, MB R0C 2R0 17 th Street East The Pas, MB R9A 1L8 724 Traverse Rd. Ste Anne, MB R5H 1B2 70 Elm St. Blumenort, MB R0A 0C0 100 Centre Ave. Blumenort, MB R0A 0C0 32155 PTH 12 N Steinbach, MB R5G 1V1 4
Sparky s Automotive 32 6 th St, SE Steinbach, MB R5G 1P2 Interlake Hydraulics 36-24-9 325 Highway W. Altona, MB R0G 0B0 Norfolk Truck Repair 66154 Tower Line Austin, MB R0H 0C0 Beausejour Tire 751 Park Ave. Beausejour, MB R0E 0Co PBX Truck Service 100 Centre Ave. Blumenort, MB R0A 0C0 Twin Service 30 16 th St. Brandon, MB R7A 4X2 Carberry Autobody 9 3 rd Ave. Carberry, MB R0K 0H0 Tri-Star AG Services 266 4 th Ave. Carman, MB R0G 0J0 Wilfs Elie Ford Hwy 1 and PTH248 Elie, MB R0H 0H0 Smith s Auto Tech 19 Main St. Gimli Small Engines, Ltd. Fisher Branch, MB R0C 0Z0 207 Dunlop St. Gimli, MB R0C 1B1 Killarney Tire, Ltd. Hwy 18 & Fletcher St., E. Killarney, MB R0K 1G0 Adrian Tire (Goodyear) Hwy 502, Lot 1 Lac du Bonnet. MB R0E 1A0 Four Way Motors Supreme Auto Integra Tire of Ste Rose Northern Rentals & Power Bicks Auto, Inc. 91 Hampton St. MacGregor, MB R0H 0R0 602 Pittsburgh Ave. Selkirk, MB R1A 0W9 704 Central Ave. Ste. Rose du Lac MB R0L 1S0 1911 Main St. E Swan River, MB R0L 1Z0 602 Richhill Ave. E Elkhorn, MB R0M 0N0 Reducing Environmental Impacts a. IBSC works hard to reduce the environmental impact of lead-acid batteries. When used lead-acid batteries come back to our warehouse, we test the batteries to see if any can be recharged and resold as a used battery. Inspecting the batteries for reuse is found under the first step of the 4R Hierarchy, which suggests that products be reused before having to be returned for recycling. b. In 2015, Interstate Batteries continued to apply our industry-leading Green Standard methods of handling scrap batteries at all of our 5
wholesale warehouses in Canada. The Green Standard program includes Training, Packing and Tracking methods in the handling of scrap lead-acid batteries. The Green Standard starts with inspecting scrap batteries at our retail dealers before they arrive at our distributorship warehouses, and it ensures that the scrap batteries are not only handled properly but also tracked from our distributorship warehouse to their final destination at a smelter. The highlights of the program include the following: Training, certification and annual audits for all Interstate Battery employees who collect or transport scrap batteries; Individual batteries are inspected for leaks. If a leak is found in the battery, then the battery is put in a leak-proof plastic bag before it is put on an Interstate Batteries route delivery truck. Unique packaging methods and materials to ensure safe transport of the scrap batteries; Unique identification numbers and tracking methods provides the ability to trace the shipment. The methods used by Interstate Batteries are part of one of the largest closed-loop lead-acid battery recycling programs in North America. 3 Pollution Prevention and the 4R Hierarchy. g. Interstate Batteries collect used batteries at our dealers as we deliver new ones to them. With our model this keeps the used ones out of the landfills or elsewhere. We are also continually looking at new sources of used batteries for us to recycle. There are times we actually find good batteries among the used ones and they are resold to the public as a used battery. All the other batteries are recycled at a Canadian approved smelter where the lead and outer plastic casing is recycled into new batteries. The acid/electrolyte is used in other processes. h. 100% of materials have been managed according to the 4R Hierarchy. 6
4. Principles of Pollution Prevention Hierarchy (4Rs) a. While the majority of the used batteries picked up at our dealers by Interstate Batteries are returned as scrap to government-approved lead smelters, our wholesale warehouses do examine many of the used auto and truck batteries we collect to see if they can be reused instead of sending them to be recycled. Interstate s 1-for-1 exchange program involves trading in a used battery for each new battery purchased. We pick up the used batteries at our dealers and return them to our warehouse in Winnipeg where each battery is tested and handled according to our Green Standard process which is described on page 6. b. All scrap batteries collected by Interstate help to reduce environmental impact since the raw material from the scrap lead-acid batteries is used to make new batteries. According to Section 19 of the Household Hazardous Material and Prescribed Material Stewardship Regulations (MR 12/2010), one aspect of keeping the batteries out of landfills and the environment is to reuse the product if possible. Guideline 2010E, Section (I)(1)(b) highlights reuse of the product where it is safe to do so. Our wholesale distributorship inspects scrap batteries that may be able to be sold as used batteries. In Manitoba in 2015, we collected 2,828 batteries (approximately 46,000 Kg) that were resold as used batteries. Batteries that were not able to be reused were sent to a smelter as a part of our closed-loop recycling process. C. In the battery recycling process, both the plastic case and the lead are recycled. The battery acid is neutralized. Lead-acid batteries remain the most recycled material in the U.S. and Canada compared with other recyclable items such as glass, newspapers, aluminum cans and other scrap. Approximately 98% of all lead-acid batteries manufactured are recycled to make new batteries and other products. 7
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5. Recovery Rate As previously cited, our service model differs from service models of other battery distributors. We use route trucks to deliver batteries to our dealers throughout Manitoba. We have consignment agreements with our dealers so that when they sell a new battery, they are expected to receive a scrap battery in exchange. If the dealer does not have a used battery in exchange for the new battery sold, he will be charged so we can buy that scrap battery elsewhere to meet the lead obligation with our battery manufacturer. In accordance with our approved Stewardship Plan, IBSC detailed to the Ministry of Conservation that we would provide at least a 100% recovery rate annually for new batteries sold. For Calendar year 2015, Interstate Batteries Manitoba recycled 853,825 Kg of scrap lead-acid batteries from across the province. Interstate Batteries sold 467,237 Kg of new lead-acid batteries. Interstate received an average of more than one spent battery for each new battery sold. We also purchased 386,589 Kg of scrap batteries from various sources to bring our overall scrap battery return rate to 183% of our new battery sales. For the purposes of this report, the average weight of a typical automotive battery is 16.27 Kg. 6. Financial Statement Due to the confidentiality of our sales volume, and as approved by the Minster of Conservation when the IBSC Stewardship Plan was approved, IBSC does not publish financial information regarding the number of batteries that we sold in 2015. 9