Indiana county gets federal grant for battery recycling

The Allen County Department of Environmental Management in Allen County, Indiana, has received a federal grant to support and expand battery recycling in the community, NPR reports.

Allen County Director of the Department of Environmental Management Stacie Hubbert says the funding will benefit the county as well as the state in promoting recycling and safe battery practices.

The federal grant will contribute about 50 percent of the cost of the county’s “Stop the Spark” program, which provides free battery recycling containers for residents, for the next three years, and will help increase public awareness and education about the dangers of lithium-ion batteries.

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Purdue Fort Wayne also is a partner in the $1.7 million “Stop the Spark” project.

Educational training will be provided to first responders and workers at hazardous waste facilities who have to deal with the potentially dangerous batteries. The grant will also pay for increased battery recycling and efforts to educate the public in general about the best practices of battery safety.

The county was one of seven in the U.S. to receive the grant, funded by the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.