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Billions of alkaline batteries are dumped in landfills annually throughout the US and Canada. Some estimates place the US alkaline battery recycling rate around just 5% while Canada does notably better but still only 10–15%. The result is a massive, largely unaddressed waste stream despite alkaline batteries containing 85–95% recoverable materials - zinc, manganese, brass, and steel. Building the infrastructure to capture that stream is harder than it may seem. Alkaline batteries are geographically dispersed, low in unit value, and must be aggregated at significant scale before processing becomes economically viable. For years, the sector was limited to a few relatively small recyclers and a very short list of steel mills or specialty mills willing to melt them in their furnaces. That is beginning to change. Critical Materials Recovery, LLC (CMR), founded in 2023, has grown from just its two founders in their garages to 14 employees in a 50,000-square-foot Phoenix, AZ processing facility in under three years. The company believes it has become the largest recycler of alkaline batteries in North America by weight processed annually - a marker of their success but also of how underserved the sector has been. The timing is favorable. Extended producer responsibility legislation is expanding to cover alkaline chemistries in multiple states and provinces while existing programs mature into higher volumes. By some estimates, as programs expand and mature, recycling rates could reach levels seen in places like Korea (25-30%) or even the EU (~50%). Some best practices for alkaline battery collection: aggregate batteries loose without bags, tape, or packaging. Only those over 12 volts need tape for terminal protection and compliance. If necessary, always use clear tape so chemistry can be verified. Most importantly, keep alkaline batteries separated from other chemistries for safety and to prevent contamination of the recycled material output. For more information, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.cmr-llc.com.