The municipality of Surca, a residential district of the Peruvian capital, is promoting a battery collection program as a source of material to be used as filler in urban construction projects. The campaign, conducted in schools and neighborhoods, urges children and adolescents to collect used batteries and turn them in at specially designated sites. From there, the city authorities take them to be mixed in the concrete used in construction projects.

“The lime and the cement in the mix neutralize the highly toxic mercury and acids found in batteries, so we came up with the idea of using them in the floors of the recreational centers and in the park benches we are building,” said Surco's mayor, Carlos Dargent.