Rotary members (left to right): David Ford, Kathy Smith, Larry Smith, Web Bliss
Pat Henderson
On April 13 Pilot Knob Rotary Club (PKRC) teamed with 120 Advanced Placement Environmental Science (APES) students at John H. Guyer High School to collect lithium-ion batteries for recycling by Redwood Industries.
The use of lithium-ion batteries is increasing, not only as the electric vehicle industry is scaling, but also with the increasing use of these batteries in cell phones, laptops, tablets, power tools, electric toothbrushes, wireless headphones, vaping devices, and any other rechargeable device with a lithium-ion battery. These rechargeable batteries contain minerals in limited supply, such as nickel, lithium, and cobalt, many of which are mined in third world countries. Today, less than 17% of consumer lithium-ion batteries are recycled, and many end up in landfills, causing fires and harmful environmental impacts.
Pilot Knob Rotary Club and the APES students targeted households in the community to bring their lithium-ion batteries to the recycling event at Guyer High School. Our goal was to develop awareness and a movement to “mine the junk drawers of America.” The recovery of the essential minerals will help ensure the security of American supply chains for electric vehicle batteries and the electric grid.
The APES students took major ownership of the event by designing original art; creating a slogan and video; reaching out to their peers, family, and friends; and contacting city and county officials, their own faculty and students, other schools, local businesses, printed media, newspapers, and radio and TV outlets to educate and inform as to why recycling is important.
PKRC is one of over 46,000 clubs and 1.4 million individuals in service to local communities and citizens worldwide in the Rotary International organization (www.rotary.org/en). We are people of action who meet on Fridays at noon in the boardroom of the Grill. We would love to have you join us for a free meal and to see how individuals with a vision and a desire to make a difference in the world can adopt the Rotary slogan: “Service Above Self.” Visit us at www.pilotknobrotary.com.