Take Charge! Recycle Lithium-Ion Batteries Responsibly.

Rotary Clubs of Western Nevada County and Redwood Materials are co-hosting our second community Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling collection in the parking lot of the Nevada County Rood Center from 10:00am - 2:00pm on Saturday April 15, 2023.
 
The public can drop off Lithium-ion rechargeable devices and batteries for recycling by Redwood Materials, a company that recycles the minerals and uses them to make new rechargeable batteries. Eligible items include cellphones, tablets, laptops, electric toothbrushes, e-shavers, vapes, wireless headphones, Bluetooth speakers, power tool batteries, video game controllers, etc.

For more information about Lithium-Ion Batteries and Redwood Materials recycling program visit RedwoodMaterials.com.

Consumer devices contribute to the world’s fastest growing waste stream.

The largest lithium and cobalt mines in the western hemisphere can be found in our country’s junk drawers. If we recover materials from old products, we significantly decrease society’s reliance on newly mined materials.

All lithium-ion batteries are made up of varying amounts of metals like cobalt, copper, nickel and lithium. Your smart phones, laptops and electric vehicles all have batteries made of these same metals. If we recover materials from old, end-of-life products, which can be sustainably broken down to their raw metals nearly infinitely, we significantly decrease society’s reliance on newly mined materials. 

The problem is, today, few pathways exist to get these old products recycled responsibly. But it’s been said that “one of the largest lithium and cobalt mines in the western hemisphere can be found in the junk drawers of America” as people stockpile these products with little information on how to safely and responsibly dispose of them.

Solution

If recycled, your lithium-ion batteries and rechargeable devices can decrease global reliance on mining and lower the cost and environmental impact of our products.

Rotary is on a mission to collect as many of these old products as possible to sustainably recycle, refine, and remanufacture these batteries here in America.

It’s not necessary to extract the battery from the device; just bring the entire product to be recycled. The recovery of the essential minerals will help ensure the security of American supply chains for electric vehicle batteries and clean energy products.

Please note, this is not an electronic (e-waste) collection event. How to tell the difference? If your item has an electric cord, that’s e-waste, not a recyclable-battery item.