Every year, around 15 billion batteries are thrown away worldwide, most of which end up in landfills. When this happens, not only are the materials wasted and need to be mined, but the batteries regularly result in pollution and catastrophic fires that cause damage and release greenhouse gasses. This causes much harm to the environment. But the problem is completely overlooked by most people and it’s not that people don’t care, but are unaware about the scale of the problem, and secondly, there is not enough recycling infrastructure in place to enable people to safely dispose of their used batteries.

Since 2019, Recycle My Battery has collected and recycled more than 175,000 used batteries via free-to-use battery bins installed at institutions like schools and business places. Additionally, the organization has educated an estimated 3 million people about the importance of proper battery disposal. Recycle My Battery now has around 200 school children as volunteers, supporting the initiative. The organization is mostly active across the USA but is rapidly expanding into other countries including Canada, Switzerland, Ireland, India, Pakistan and the UAE.

“I’ve been lucky enough to receive personal appreciation from a number of prominent politicians and business leaders, have won several awards, and was invited to give a TEDx talk about my story, which I delivered in 2021. I feel very humbled by all of this, and it has encouraged me to keep working hard. I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved, but I know that there’s much more to be done. I will continue to work to promote Recycle My Battery and grow it as much as possible throughout the world”, says Nihal on his achievement.