US Department of Energy to Fund 1,000 Battery Recycling Points to Address Environmental Issues and Reduce Dependence on China

TapTechNews July 15th news, the US Department of Energy announced that it will fund the establishment of 1,000 battery recycling points across the United States. These recycling points can not only recycle batteries but also recycle smartphones and other electronic devices that no longer have resale or replacement value. This plan aims to address environmental issues and is also a potential measure to reduce the US's dependence on raw materials from China.

Currently, after consumer electronics lose their use value, it is very troublesome for consumers to deal with them. Due to the potential fire hazard, most household waste and recycling systems will not accept such products. Although Apple Stores can already recycle old smartphones (whether iPhone or Android systems), not everyone can easily access these stores.

The Biden administration announced a plan worth 14 million US dollars (TapTechNews note: currently about 102 million Chinese yuan) this month, aiming to fund other retailers to recycle batteries and electronic devices for recycling. Recyclable items include smartphones, smart watches, laptops, and vacuum cleaners, etc. It is reported that the ultimate goal of this plan is to process these devices to recycle the rare elements contained in them for use in US manufacturing.

Inappropriate handling of batteries is not only an environmental problem, but the US Department of Energy also regards it as an economic problem. Many rechargeable batteries contain materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and manganese, which are key materials required for clean energy technologies (including wind turbines and electric vehicles). As the sales of electric vehicles in the US increase, the demand for these materials will also further increase.

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in an interview with Wired: So far, China has basically monopolized the market in processing and extracting these materials. We hope to be able to establish multiple ways to obtain these key materials in the US, and recycling is one of them. She also added that the current battery recycling capacity in the US is very underutilized.

These recycling points will be set up in easily accessible Staples and BatteryPlus stores across the US. However, experts point out that the government not only needs to fund the collection but also needs to fund the processing and treatment links because the current cost of recycling these materials may be even higher than directly importing from China.