Under the direction of Jennifer Clemann of Tama, the Recycling Education Coordinator at the Marshall County Landfill, central Iowans are asked to drop off non-functioning batteries at Thompsonâs True-Value Hardware Store in Marshalltown. Similarly, residents at The Embers, Glenwood Place and The Willows may dispose of them in conveniently placed containers.
The service is free of charge with no cost to Thompsonâs, the retirement facilities, customers or residents returning the batteries Clemann and staff pick-up the batteries at the drop-off points. The used batteries are returned to the Marshall County Landfill (MCL), where Clemann and staff sort and use packing tape to individually wrap the batteries to prevent leakage and combustion.
Staff store the batteries in a 55-gallon drum for pick-up later by a recycler. âOur goal has been to direct batteries from the landfill and have them properly recycled,â said Clemann. âWe started in 2023 with (drop-off) buckets located in The Embers, Glenwood Place, The Willows and Thompsonâs. That local hardware store is ideal for drop off because customers are stopping to replace batteries for tools. We have picked-up 23 times from Thompsonâs and twice from The Embers since we started in March 2023. These collections as well as drop-offs at the Marshall County Landfill office have resulted in 1,173 pounds of alkaline batteries and 988 pounds of rechargeable lithium, ion, nickel (and) cadmium batteries effectively recycled…â