The city of Phoenix will receive the 2005 National Community Recycling Leadership Award from the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC), a nonprofit public service organization dedicated to recycling rechargeable batteries and cell phones.

RBRC will present the award to Councilman Claude Mattox at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13, at Phoenix City Hall, 200 W. Washington St., assembly room A.

The Office of Environmental Programs in conjunction with other city departments is being recognized for maintaining an efficient rechargeable battery collection program. This effort has resulted in the collection of more than 8,200 pounds of rechargeable batteries and cell phones since 2003.

“The battery recycling program is a great partnership between the city of Phoenix and RBRC,” said Lupe Buys, an environmental quality specialist with the city. “We use city facilities and staff to collect unwanted or unusable rechargeable batteries, while RBRC pays for the processing cost to recycle them. This program is of great benefit to the community and the environment.”

The Office of Environmental Programs assists in the development of city environmental policies and regulations, and provides technical and regulatory guidance to city departments.

For more information, call 602-256-5669.