Montgomery County is expanding its curbside battery and electronic recycling program to include most neighborhoods by the end of this year, the county’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced Friday.
“[This is] really important because [electronics and batteries] have valuable materials inside of them that we can recycle, but it has the added purpose of preventing safety hazards,” DEP Director Jon Monger said at a press conference on Friday in North Bethesda to commemorate the program’s expansion to that neighborhood next week. He also noted that batteries can cause fires when disposed of in normal trash or recycling.
The county started rolling out the program in some neighborhoods in 2022. Currently, most of the upcounty region is included in the program.
“Everybody wants to be environmentally responsible, but if you’ve got six batteries and you have to drive to the transfer station to get rid of them, you’re probably not going to do that,” County Executive Marc Elrich (D) said at the press conference.
Residents of neighborhoods that are part of the program will be able to call 311 to schedule pickups of batteries and electronics alongside their normal trash and recycling pickups.
“I’m really excited to have this program. … Anything that makes it easier for people to recycle is a good thing,” said Marta Vogel, a local climate activist whose North Bethesda home was used for a demonstration of the recycling program at Friday’s press conference.
New neighborhoods will be added on the following dates:
– April 7: Bethesda, North Bethesda and parts of Rockville
– May 5: Silver Spring
– June 2: Potomac and Cabin John
– Aug. 4: Montgomery Village and Germantown
– Nov. 3: Kemp Mill
– Dec. 1: Aspen Hill and Glenmont
Neighborhoods that are considered part of municipalities within the county–including the cities of Rockville, Gaithersburg and Takoma Park–are not scheduled to be part of the program. A map and calendar with details is available on the department’s website.
According to DEP officials, apartment and condominium complexes would need to contract with the county to make the program available to their residents. County residents who do not live in a neighborhood with the program are encouraged to dispose of batteries and electronic waste at the Shady Grove Transfer Station and Recycling Center at 16101 Frederick Road in Derwood.
“I want to thank the county executive and DEP for choosing our community to start this program,” said Jason Smith, president of the Greater Farmland Civic Association where Vogel’s house is located and the press conference was held. “Climate change is a very real threat. It’s a current threat, and making it easier for our community members to participate in these types of recycling programs … is very important.”
DEP officials encouraged any community members who use the program to make sure electronics are appropriately labeled. Smaller electronics should be gathered and placed in a cardboard box marked “electronics” and batteries should be placed in an enclosed container, such as Tupperware, and not loose outside.
“What we do with these items is the electronics go to our recycling electronics vendor. They take all the electronics, they break them up into the various components and recycle all the individual components for the batteries,” said Alan Pultyniewicz, DEP’s recycling coordinator. “They go to the hazardous waste companies to break those batteries down, to recover the precious materials from these batteries, and recycle the various elements of the batteries. So all these things that we’re putting out on the curb are being recycled and turning into new material.”
