A system that can collect any common household device with a Li-ion battery inside for recycling has been created by America’s largest company in the field, Redwood Materials.

Headed by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, Redwood has been at the forefront of battery recycling in the US, capable of recovering more than 95% of the key materials involved in battery making, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, or even critical minerals.

Battery Bin AI deposit system

Redwood’s Battery Bin aims for effortless disposal of those old phones, tablets, earbuds, smartwatches, electric toothbrushes, vacuums, speakers, key fobs, power tools, basically anything with a Li-ion battery inside that are usually sitting in drawers for months and years on end.

The inconspicuous bin that is painted in white and green can be placed anywhere and is crafted to suit the transportation solutions of the typical retail chain or local municipality. The Battery Bin is a completely automated deposit platform that people can simply drop their gear into, while an AI-powered system deploys positional, infrared, ultrasonic and other sensors to sort it out for recycling.

It is fire-proof and sends its status in real time to remote operators, so the storage bin inside only needs to be collected once full and sent out to the recycling facility. The Battery Bin only opens its chute with an infrared sensor to prevent device or data theft.

The deposit system makes other public battery drop-off efforts seem cumbersome in comparison, and Redwood has designed it to address all their shortcomings at once. The company is in talks with key stakeholders like city administrations, schools, or retail locations about adopting the Battery Bin device deposit and recycling platform with the goal to make it nationwide.

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Daniel Zlatev – Senior Tech Writer – 2000 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2021

Wooed by tech since the industrial espionage of Apple computers and the times of pixelized Nintendos, Daniel went and opened a gaming club when personal computers and consoles were still an expensive rarity. Nowadays, fascination is not with specs and speed but rather the lifestyle that computers in our pocket, house, and car have shoehorned us in, from the infinite scroll and the privacy hazards to authenticating every bit and move of our existence.