On April 9, 2026, on the UCC 2nd floor, high school and middle school students, Nihal Tammana, Pavit Thakkar, Nithya Tammana, and Ritvik Mohanty, came to Stevens to promote using battery bins around campus to safely recycle batteries. The founder of the nonprofit organization Recycle My Battery, Nihal Tammana, said he founded the organization after hearing about a major lithium-ion battery explosion at a waste disposal plant in California on the news. Since then, he has built a team of over 1,000 youth volunteers across multiple countries to promote education and the habit of properly recycling batteries. These youth leaders have been visiting college campuses, schools, and offices to promote the use of proper battery disposal bins for safe disposal.
One youth leader, Pavit Thakkar, proposed the idea of tabling and promoting this initiative of battery recycling bins around campus to Dr. Sara Klein, Vice President for Student Affairs, during a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. event. From there, they tabled on the UCC 2nd floor, gaining traction from passersby. They kept the event engaging with prizes like stickers, straw sets, batteries, and more, along with a battery bin and a spin wheel to win a prize. They also gave an overview of the problem and proposed solutions for recycling on campus, starting with the question, “Where do your batteries end up?” That question points to a large issue about battery waste overall.
Annually, Americans throw away more than 3 billion batteries, which is about 180,000 tons of hazardous waste. More than 15 billion batteries are carelessly thrown away each year, causing pollution and fire accidents. Improper recycling can lead to severe environmental pollution, safety risks like explosions and fires, and wasted resources, since toxic materials like lead, cadmium, and lithium-ion can leak into soil and waterways when disposed of improperly, harming human health and potentially leading to incidents like the lithium-ion battery explosion in California.
To address this issue, they are working to bring solutions directly to campus by planting battery bins in all the dorms to give students a clear idea of how to safely dispose of batteries. Even before these boxes are available, there are many ways to responsibly recycle batteries, such as battery banks located at local Staples stores and Home Depots. Their website explains the importance of understanding the impact of improper recycling and being educated, including knowing what type of batteries you are dealing with. Household batteries like alkaline batteries, which are made of relatively non-hazardous materials, can be thrown in the trash, though it is still better to use battery bins when possible. Car batteries should be disposed of at auto parts retailers or hazardous waste collection sites. Rechargeable and lithium-ion batteries must be taken to a hazardous waste collection site. As a general practice, it is better to place everyday batteries in proper battery bins or battery banks.
Recycle My Battery promotes a petition to reduce battery waste by getting manufacturers on board with recycling, which has garnered 3,592 signatures as of April 21, 2025. This initiative is important because it expands awareness of the dangers of improper battery recycling from the 1% who know about it to educating 35 million more people about battery recycling. Through the efforts of the Recycle My Battery initiative, members aim to hold businesses and manufacturers accountable for the environmental impact they have, while encouraging stronger incentives for more sustainable recycling practices.
