The people who are organizing a new initiative to collect electronic waste from the rural Alaska have reported that they collected and recycled more than 150,000 pounds of lead acid batteries from 45 communities in the last year.
Backhaul Alaska has been an idea of the Senator. Lisa Murkowski, and is now receiving federal grant funds by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Transportation, and Environmental Protection Agency to address the issue of getting toxic waste from the remote Alaska communities.
Reilly Kosinski works for Zender Environmental Zender Environmental, a non-profit organization which oversees the backhaul programme. He says that waste management is a particular challenge in a large portion part of New York.
“In Alaska many of our tiny towns aren’t connected to roads,” Kosinski said. “They might be able to access the barge once or twice times per year. There’s a deficiency of infrastructure that can handle trash in the same way that people living in the lower 48 deal with it.”
Kosinski stated that Alaska has a unique exemption to utilize Class III landfills, which are not lined and require very little mitigation, which leaves the surrounding ecosystem more vulnerable. As batteries are degraded they release lead poison can be absorbed in drinking water or, when they’re burned as Kosinski claims is still a regular occurrence, chemical compounds are released in the atmosphere.
“So it’s more crucial to prevent those potentially harmful items from being disposed of initially.”
The program teaches local residents to safely collect hazardous batteries and other electronic waste The program then coordinates low-cost backhaul transport via cargo ships or planes. Kosinski explained that the waste is later delivered to a certified recycling facility located in the lower 48.
John Kyte, Communications Director for the Responsible Battery Coalition, which is a major national organization which supports Backhaul Alaska, said lead acid batteries are 99 percent recyclable, and lead batteries is reusable for years.
“If you were to go out today to purchase the latest battery, no matter the place you purchase it from It’s possible that the lead contained in the battery is 20 30, 40 or 50 or more years old.” Kyte said. “Lead is completely recyclable.”
2022 was the very first official year of the initiative and Kosinski stated that it’s likely they’ll be able to collect more e-waste in the coming year.
For Alaskans living in larger cities that want to get rid of electronic waste, Kosinski recommended services from Total Reclaim or Central Recycling Services in Anchorage or Green Star of Interior Alaska in Fairbanks. In the case of used lead-acid batteries He said the majority of auto stores that sell batteries will happily accept your old batteries.
