The Responsible Battery Coalition — a leading coalition of companies, academics and organizations dedicated to the responsible management and environmental sustainability of batteries, announced significant expansions to its growing membership of industry leaders as the world prepares to celebrate Earth Day. Joining the RBC and adding to the momentum of the Coalition’s work to create a sustainable, closed loop battery recycling system are Environmental Restoration, LLC and Li-Cycle.
RBC’s primary focus is the advancement of responsible production, transport, sale, use, reuse, recycling, and resource recovery of transportation, industrial and stationary batteries and other energy storage devices, regardless of technology — all vital parts of minimizing the environmental impact of batteries and bettering the planet for tomorrow.
“The responsible management and recycling of batteries continues to be a focus of many major organizations and companies, and is the passion of RBC members,” said Steve Christensen, executive director of the RBC. “We’re excited to welcome new members to our growing organization, and to continue our work in advancing the responsible use of energy storage devices.”
The new members, Environmental Restoration, a provider of cost-effective hazardous waste material management and removal services with 24 nationwide locations, and Li-Cycle, a full-service provider of recycling solutions for all types of lithium-ion batteries including logistics management and resource recovery, both bring unique visions and vital expertise to the RBC.
“For over 20 years, ERLLC Teams have been focused on the responsible management and removal of hazardous waste materials for federal/state/local government agencies & commercial clients. ERLLC is dedicated to leading the way for conservation and environmental protection related to the responsible manufacturing, transportation, use, reuse, and recycling or disposal of batteries,” said Tim Tarwater, battery recycling program manager at Environmental Restoration, LLC. “We’re excited to be joining the Responsible Battery Coalition and working with other leading stakeholders to further their efforts in the responsible life-cycle management of all batteries and creating a sustainable, closed-loop recycling system for the batteries of today and tomorrow.”
“Li-Cycle is pleased to be joining the Responsible Battery Coalition and is committed to working collectively with other members to help build a sustainable global lithium-ion battery supply chain,” said Ajay Kochhar, president and CEO, Li-Cycle. “As rechargeable lithium-ion batteries continue to electrify our world in all parts of life – from vehicles to consumer devices – it is critical to have a coalition to promote best practices for managing batteries throughout their lifecycle.”
As the Responsible Battery Coalition enters its third year, this membership growth reaffirms that its initiatives, the 2 Million Battery Challenge, Backhaul Alaska, research with leading academic and scientific institutions — including the development of Green Principles for electric vehicle battery management — are steps in the right direction as the organization works to promote battery life-cycle management regardless of technology.