Nearly every person reaches for a lithium powered device every single day, yet most have little idea what should happen to that battery once it dies. A new study from Cirba Solutions puts a number on that gap, and the automotive world, where battery packs are far bigger and far more valuable, has just as much reason to pay attention. The research itself was conducted among U.S. respondents, but the barriers it identifies, poor awareness, unclear drop-off points and safety concerns, are not unique to the United States, and a similar picture is widely reported across the European Union as well.
Battery recycling awareness has actually gotten worse
The research, titled The Missing Link: Consumer Awareness in the Battery Life Cycle, follows up on a similar study Cirba Solutions ran back in 2024. Surveying people across the United States, it found that 91 percent said they would recycle their lithium batteries if doing so were as simple as throwing them in the bin. Despite that willingness, the share of people who say they simply don’t know how or where to dispose of used batteries properly actually rose by around 18 percent compared to the 2024 results.
Karen Gay, community engagement manager at Cirba Solutions, described the core issue as a persistent knowledge gap that hasn’t kept pace with surging battery use and demand. In her view, most people genuinely want to do the right thing with their old batteries, which puts the responsibility on companies like hers to make recycling easier to access, raise awareness, and give people the practical tools to actually act on that willingness.
While Cirba Solutions’ figures are specific to the United States, European consumer surveys and industry reports have flagged very similar patterns, low awareness of collection points, confusion over how to prepare batteries safely, and inconsistent access to drop-off locations across member states. With the EU’s own battery regulation pushing for higher collection and recycling targets in the coming years, the same awareness gap identified in the U.S. looks likely to be just as significant a hurdle on this side of the Atlantic.
Closing the gap: how Cirba Solutions is tackling access and education
Cirba Solutions is attacking the problem from several directions at once. Its community education programmes focus specifically on the barriers respondents flagged most often: not having a convenient drop-off point nearby, uncertainty about how to prepare batteries safely, and general safety concerns around storing or transporting them. The programmes teach people how to identify what type of battery they actually have, how to prepare it correctly, and where their nearest collection point is.
Alongside that education push, the company has built out a wide collection network through partnerships with retailers, municipalities and manufacturers, aiming to make dropping off a battery a genuinely convenient errand rather than a research project. It also runs collection events directly at its own facilities and sponsors community collection drives with schools, local governments and community organisations, backed by free educational resources available through its website and outreach team. For anyone wanting a simple, compliant way to recycle at home, the company also offers turnkey WeRecycle Battery Boxes.
Critical minerals recycling and the case for a domestic supply chain
Collection is only half the story. Cirba Solutions’ domestic processing facilities recover critical minerals, including lithium, nickel and cobalt, from batteries that have reached the end of their life, feeding those materials back into battery and manufacturing supply chains to help produce new batteries. That closed loop approach cuts down on how much the United States needs to rely on foreign sources for these materials, while giving domestic manufacturing a boost in the process.
Gay framed every recycled battery as a genuine opportunity to recover critical minerals and route them back into the domestic supply chain, arguing that once consumers understand the real value sitting inside their old batteries, that understanding directly strengthens supply chains, supports domestic manufacturing and reduces dependence on critical minerals sourced from abroad. The research backs up how persuasive that framing can be: 84 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to recycle if they knew doing so helped reduce U.S. dependence on foreign critical minerals, suggesting there is still plenty of room for education to move the needle.
Why EV battery recycling still lags behind at the point of sale
The awareness problem is arguably even more pronounced in the EV world. Two thirds of current electric vehicle owners said they received no real education on battery safety or recycling at the point of purchase, and a good number of prospective buyers admit they haven’t even thought about what eventually happens to a used EV battery. Given how much larger and more valuable an EV battery pack is compared to a household battery, that gap looks like a missed opportunity on both the environmental and economic side.
Cirba Solutions says it is working specifically to close that gap, partnering with vehicle manufacturers, dealers and automotive dismantlers to build recycling pathways for EV batteries that mirror the kind of accessible, well signposted process the company is already building for everyday consumer batteries.
