Recycle My Battery

Around 15 billion batteries are used globally every year, with around three billion of these coming from the US alone. These batteries are all made from highly reactive, polluting, and scarce materials. Unfortunately, most of them end up in landfills, where they cause fires, pollute the soil and groundwater, emit greenhouse gasses, and cause serious environmental damage. In addition to this, battery production has a high carbon footprint and drives an increase in harmful, unsustainable mining practices.

Despite all of this, most people don’t know about the importance of proper battery disposal (only around 1% of people I surveyed) and many find it difficult to access recycling facilities, so the majority of batteries are simply thrown in the trash.

Another element of the problem is that the issue is getting considerably worse over time. The demand for batteries is rising globally all the time, with more consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and more being produced and used all the time. Battery technology is improving the lifespans of individual batteries, but it is a slow process and the number being thrown away is still constantly increasing.

The problem is going to continue to get worse if nothing is done to educate people and improve access to recycling facilities. If this is allowed to happen, there will inevitably be more fires, more pollution, and more greenhouse gas emissions, all of which will have a significant negative impact on the environment and could contribute to climate change.

As with many issues involving the environment and climate, the impact of battery disposal is likely to disproportionately affect people in the less privileged parts of the world. For example, parts of South Asia and Africa are already severely affected by pollution and climate change, which is a big hindrance to efforts to improve living and economic conditions. These challenges are impacting hundreds of millions of people on a daily basis.

While I know that batteries are only part of the problem, they are a very underreported part, meaning nowhere near enough is being done to mitigate their impact.

To try to solve the problem, I started a non-profit organization called Recycle My Battery back in 2019. The organization is dedicated to promoting and facilitating battery recycling by running educational campaigns and installing free recycling bins in schools and other public places.

I started collecting batteries in person from my school and local community, but this quickly became unrealistic. To scale up, I approached Call2Recycle, one of the largest recycling organizations in North America, to ask for help. We agreed on a partnership to install free battery recycling bins in schools, libraries, office buildings, and other public places. This partnership provided the funding and infrastructure needed to reach as many people as possible.

At the same time, I also focused on running a range of educational campaigns to teach people about battery recycling. I have mostly focussed on giving speeches, running training events, attending and contributing at conferences, issuing press releases, and making various media appearances such as a TED talk and going on television shows. Additionally, I have a website and use social media extensively to promote my messages.

My solution relies heavily on technology in the form of recycling technology and modern online media for promotional and educational purposes. Sustainable recycling of modern batteries requires a lot of complex technology that is not easily accessible, as used batteries need to be processed through high-tech, specialized, and expensive facilities. However, the unfortunate reality is that most people around the world simply don’t have access to these facilities, so it’s far easier to throw batteries in the trash.

Recycle My Battery does not build or own these facilities (although with enough funding, we would like to eventually), but we do the next best thing by teaching people how important it is to take the extra effort to use them. Additionally, we forge partnerships with larger recycling organizations to simplify normal people’s access to these high-tech facilities, by collecting the batteries for them and forming a crucial part of the logistics chain.

Finally, we use technology extensively in order to have a global reach. This is in the form of digital conferences, YouTube videos, email campaigns, online advertising, and more, and I am always looking for new ways to expand our reach globally. 

Since 2019, we have managed to recycle more than 265,000 used batteries and reach an estimated 12.5 million people to teach them about the importance of battery recycling, all thanks to our use of technology to expand our reach. We have also recruited over 325 volunteer school kids from around the world to help run Recycle My Battery. Around 10,000 other kids have committed to follow our messages and spread them to their families and friends, leading to an estimated one million more batteries being recycled.

Looking at the problem with a broad view, my solution is ultimately about protecting the environment and mitigating one of the contributors to climate change. Therefore, it will technically benefit everybody on the planet in some small way, and especially the people in the world most impacted by climate change. Most of these people are in the developing world, such as many parts of South Asia and Africa, but places like the US are also affected, such as low-lying flood-prone areas in Florida.

On a shorter timescale, it will have the greatest impact on the parts of the world and communities affected most by the pollution and fires caused by unsustainable battery disposal.

Additionally, a big part of Recycle My Battery’s mission and method is focused on engaging with young people, educating them, and empowering them to take action about the causes they care about in the world.

While the operations have so far mostly been focused on the US—which would not generally be classed as an underserved country—it focuses on young people, and often young people in minority communities.

I also see Recycle My Battery as a global solution. I am working very hard to expand it to young people in other countries, such as India, where many communities are some of the most underserved in the world, and many of our 325+ volunteers are from these countries.

These volunteers themselves are also benefiting significantly from their membership in the Recycle My Battery movement. I have always felt that it is important that every volunteer gets more from the organization than they give, so I regularly organize educational events, team-building exercises, and specialized training days and conferences. The volunteers all learn very valuable life and career skills through their participation, such as business administration, planning, grant applications, accounting, public speaking, and much more.

The volunteers come from all over the world, including the US, India, Canada, UAE, Switzerland, and other countries. This brings a lot of diversity and a wide range of skills and perspectives that have helped to provide unique insight and improve the direction of the organization.

Recycle My Battery is also entirely staffed by young people, with more than 325 school kids working as registered volunteers. They are members of precisely the demographics we are trying to serve. This means that they understand the mindset and can provide unique insights into the direction of the organization. The volunteers have played an integral part in the design and implementation of Recycle My Battery’s actions, so their input has been very important and shaped the way we operate.

Also, I am a young person myself, so as Team Lead, I feel that the entire organization and solution, from top to bottom, has young people and underserved communities at its core.

I am applying to Solve for several important reasons, and I believe it is one of the best platforms in the world for my kind of project. I think it could, in many ways, support, improve, and increase the impact of Recycle My Battery.

What really sets the MIT Solve program apart from many other programs and awards is the amazing network of people involved. From accomplished past winners to the world-leading experts in the MIT network, having the chance to have a seat at the table is an absolutely invaluable opportunity.

One of the main things holding Recycle My Battery back is a lack of expertise in lots of key fields such as strategy and planning. I’m very proud of how far we have managed to come, and I’ve learnt a huge amount in the last few years, but I know that getting support, advice, and oversight is always extremely helpful, and that we can still improve in many areas.

I sometimes feel isolated in my role, and there is often a lot of pressure. I know I have a lot to learn about leadership and the logistics of running such an ambitious organization, so I want to speak with the best people in the world to get advice, mentorship, and guidance whenever possible. I’m ready to learn, and if I want to have the greatest impact possible, I think this is vital.

On the other hand, I also think I have a lot to offer the Solve community. I understand that the peer network is about mutual growth, so I hope I can offer some of the lessons I’ve learnt and support others in their journeys.

Finally, funding is of course an important part of any solution, and Recycle My Battery is no exception. As a non-profit organization, we rely entirely on volunteers, donations, and partnerships to get things done. Therefore, any monetary prize would go a long way to supporting the day-to-day running of the organization, buying promotional materials, running events, and so on. However, this is secondary to the peer network, experts, and other resources available through the MIT Solve program.

Innovation has always been at the heart of Recycle My Battery. One of the most innovative things is the fact that the organization is entirely run by volunteer schoolchildren. This makes Recycle My Battery unique among similar recycling organizations and one of the very few non-profits in the world that is led and operated entirely by children.

While this may seem like a disadvantage, it has, in fact, helped us to achieve our primary goals, namely to increase awareness and recycling rates, particularly among young people. When they learn about the work, many young people are inspired by seeing people like themselves making a real difference in the world for an important cause. Often, these children choose to join up themselves, resulting in a volunteer force of more than 300 children now running the organization.

I believe this innovative approach is a powerful and replicable way to mobilize young people to work for positive environmental causes. Young people are innately concerned with the world they are going to grow up in, so they are highly motivated to enact change if encouraged and inspired in the right ways, and the work of Recycle My Battery proves this.

Another innovative element of Recycle My Battery’s approach has been using partnerships as a way to level up operational capabilities, reach more people, and recycle more batteries. We prioritize networking with influential figures in industry, other related non-profits, and policy-makers, and we have had great success with this approach.

One example of this is the partnership with Call2Recycle, one of the largest recycling non-profits in the world, to help install and transport battery bins. Another would be the efforts made to engage with policy makers at city, state, and national level to raise awareness of underreported issues and to try to change future policies.

My goals for Recycle My Battery in the next year are to equal the total performance of the last three years by recycling at least another 250,000 batteries. In five years, I aim to recycle over five million. In terms of our educational campaigns, I am aiming to reach another 10 million in the next year and 100 million people over the next five years.

I think that, with the infrastructure now in place across the US, multiple partnerships with other organizations, and growing momentum with our educational campaigns, this is definitely achievable. Additionally, we are in the process of expanding to multiple other countries, such as Canada and India, where we will undoubtedly be able to collect many more batteries and reach many more people with our campaigns.

Goal 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable);

Target 11.6 (By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management indicators);

Indicator 11.6.1 (Proportion of municipal solid waste collected and managed in controlled facilities out of total municipal waste generated, by cities).

Recycle My Battery is very well aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 11’s target 11.6, and we can clearly measure progress towards meeting this target via Indicator 11.6.1. One of the main metrics we monitor is the number of batteries collected, and we can break this down by community based on where we have installed our battery bins.

We can also measure an approximate number of batteries recycled indirectly in different communities. This is based on the estimated number of people reached by our campaigns and the number of people who agree to our pledge to recycle batteries at home.

Goal 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns);

Target 12.4 (By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment);

Indicator 12.4.2 (b) (proportion of hazardous waste treated, by type of treatment).

Recycle My Battery is also very well positioned to make progress toward the Goal 12, Target 12.4. We can measure our progress via Indicator 12.4.2 (b), by determining the amount of hazardous waste (in this case, batteries) treated via recycling.

Goal 13 (Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts)

Target 13.3 (Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning)

Indicator 13.3.1 (Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment

For this goal, we can’t measure the impact on a national level, but our campaigns effectively raise awareness and improve human capacity for climate change mitigation by educating people about batteries and wider climate issues. 

The main technology involved in our solution is the modern recycling technology required to effectively recycle used batteries. The process of recovering meaningful amounts of metals and disposing of the waste in a sustainable way is expensive and requires specialized equipment in dedicated recycling facilities, so it is not available in large parts of the world.

A big part of Recycle My Battery’s work involves sourcing these facilities and improving community access to them by building partnerships with other waste-management organizations and installing bins in public places.

Beyond this, we also heavily rely on technology to achieve our other mission: to educate people about the importance of battery recycling. As a small non-profit organization, we do not have the resources to run large-scale campaigns using traditional media, so we rely on online media. This includes YouTube, email marketing, online conferences, and so on to engage with people all over the world.

Recycle My Battery is a non-profit organization. We are run by volunteers and entirely funded by donations, grants, prize money, and partnerships with other organizations.

Recycle My Battery is a non-profit organization. We are run by volunteers and entirely funded by donations, grants, prize money, and partnerships with other organizations.

Looking ahead, we will continue this model of funding and rely on scaling up our campaigning, grant applications, and funding drives to generate more income.

Overall, our expenses are very low relative to the scale of the operations, so we do not require huge investment to expand globally.

I and Recycle My Battery have been fortunate enough to receive multiple awards and grants in the last few years. The awards/grants we have won so far include:

• T-Mobile Changemaker Challenge
• Barron Prize
• Heal the planet Award etc.

Recycle My Battery is a non-profit organization, so these grants make up a big portion of our income. The rest of our funding comes from donations. Finally, we extend our reach by building partnerships with other organizations who, while they may not give us funding directly, support us by allowing us to share their infrastructure and other resources.I believe this is a sustainable funding model, as we rely very little on direct funding to achieve our results.