E-Bike Battery Recycling

Call2Recycle and People4Bikes have organized and launched a new e-bike battery recycling program. This is huge news for the e-bike world because prior to this, recycling e-bike batteries correctly was nearly impossible for small businesses and individuals. This new program allows bike shops to become drop-off centers for e-bike batteries that are at end of life, and ensures those batteries get properly recycled.

We are now an e-bike lithium ion battery recycling drop-off location as part of this program. If you bought your battery from us, feel free to drop it off for recycling when you are ready. If you did not buy your battery from us, we can likely still take it, but we recommend calling or emailing first to confirm.

Background / Hazard

The transportation of lithium ion batteries is regulated since they are considered hazardous materials at risk of fire. For lithium ion batteries in particular, while a fire is rare, if a fire does happen, they are at risk of “thermal runaway” in which case a small fire rapidly increases in heat and size and can be very difficult to control, igniting other nearby batteries. Presently, in order to ship lithium ion batteries, an organisation needs to have special 49 CFR permits and insurance. These carry a high barrier to get, so individual bike shops never or rarely have them and will not be able to ship batteries. 

Transportation requirements differ for batteries that are installed versus loose. For example, the requirements for shipping e-bikes versus just batteries differ in ways that have made dealing with just batteries particularly challenging. For air travel, the restrictions are based on battery size, only allowing batteries for small consumer electronics. More about the transport requirements can be found here, and more on the history of lithium ion batteries by air travel is available here.

What options existed before this?

It is illegal in the US to throw lithium ion batteries in the trash, but recycling was logistically very challenging.

Before this program, large lithium ion batteries could only be recycled by organisations with the special hazardous material permits. Users could drop their batteries off at places like Batteries+Bulbs who are able to handle disposal. 

For smaller lithium ion batteries at end-of-life, Call2Recyle already had organised drop-off sites. This is meant for small batteries like those from cell phones, and the relatively low limit to the capacity of batteries that can be processed through this program excludes all or nearly all e-bike batteries. Municipal transfer stations similarly place limits that exclude e-bike batteries from their recycling programs. 

Basically, this program takes the huge burden of figuring out how to safely and responsibly dispose of e-bike batteries off of consumers and bike shops.

How does the new program work?

For the new program, most of the major e-bike brands have agreed to participate in the program, including Bosch, Shimano, Yamaha, Fazua, as well as bike manufacturers like Tern, Gazelle, Specialized, Trek. The bike manufacturers will pay a $15/battery fee into the fund being used to run this program. Some brands are passing those charges along to the consumers; others are opting to absorb it into the pre-existing costs. If you are shopping for new bikes now, you may see this on an estimate as something like “Safe Battery Recycling Fee” as an additional fee to the cost of the bike.

That fund is then used to administer the recycling program administered by Call2Recycle. Bike shops can sign up and be trained to be drop-off locations for end-of-life e-bike batteries. Call2Recycle provides special kits that come with a shipping exception to allow them to be returned without the individual bike shop needing the 49 CFR hazardous certification. 

When a user experiences their battery in end-of-life, as in, no longer holding sufficient capacity, a fully discharged battery, or otherwise unresponsive battery, they can be dropped off at participating bike shops to be returned for recycling. There is no fee at the time of dropoff, and batteries can be dropped off regardless of whether the individual battery had the initial fee paid for it. Batteries from brands not participating can also be processed through the program, pending individual drop off location discretion.

You can find drop-off locations accepting e-bike batteries near you through Call2Recycle’s search feature with your zipcode.

Exceptions to this program

Batteries must be lithium ion and designed for e-bikes to participate. Locations cannot accept moped, lawnmower, power tools, etc batteries, nor lead acid or any other sort of vehicle batteries. 

Bike shops may choose not accept dangerous damage/defective batteries. They can still be returned through this program, but requires special handling and packaging so many shops may not be able to accommodate it. Bike shops may also decline batteries of unknown origins, for example, batteries from brands not participating.