News

BETTERY brings battery-recycling kiosks to Safeway

November 12, 2013

BETTERY Inc. has teamed up with Safeway to deploy its battery-recycling kiosks at select stores throughout Washington and Oregon, the company announced.

Starting with stores in Portland, Ore., and Seattle, Safeway shoppers will be able to purchase reusable AA and AAA batteries for $2.50 via the BETTERY kiosks, and also return at a later date to swap drained batteries for recharged ones for the same fee.

"Since our launch earlier this year, we are seeing tremendous response from consumers and retail and corporate partners alike," BETTERY co-founder and CEO Charlie Kawasaki said in the announcement. "Bringing BETTERY kiosks to Safeway locations is a huge step forward in our mission to change the way people buy and use batteries."

More than 2.5 billion landfill-clogging household batteries are thrown away in the U.S. every year — a figure that Steve Frisby, president of the Northwest Division of Safeway, said he hopes to tackle with the BETTERY partnership.

"At Safeway we are constantly looking for innovative partners like BETTERY who can help us create cleaner and healthier communities," Frisby said. "We're confident that together with BETTERY we can dramatically reduce the number of batteries that end up in landfills while giving our customers a great option for powering all of their household gadgets."

Read more about vending kiosks.