Don’t Be a Victim of Greenwashing

It’s not uncommon these days to instinctively label particular types of batteries and their manufacturers as green, specifically, lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. And you can thank greenwashing for leading you to believe those products and the companies making them are doing what’s best for the environment.

Greenwashing is simply the dissemination of misinformation by some unscrupulous manufacturers about their products that hide facts related to environmentally harmful or abusive practices to create a positive public image. While the premise of electric vehicles and renewable energy storage is certainly admirable and undoubtedly the right direction for global transportation and power generation where the well-being of our world is concerned, lithium-ion, or li-ion, battery production actually causes great harm and degradation to our environment and communities where materials used to make them are mined, and where these batteries are disposed of at the end of their useful life.

Unethical manufacturers, including some highly recognized battery companies, regularly rely on greenwashing in customer engagement and marketing claims to not only mislead prospective customers, but potentially put them at risk through unsafe and unsustainable practices.

Perhaps you’re familiar with claims and conduct such as:

• • • Selling “green” batteries that are, in fact, only recycled at end-of-life 5% of the time
    • Touting “50% recycled material goals” while using virgin-mined materials in current products
    • Using fossil fuels to power manufacturing of renewable energy storage and electric vehicle batteries
    • Declaring their batteries do not negatively impact the environment (every battery does to some degree, including ours)

While a battery that’s 100% sustainable doesn’t exist, we can help you determine how to select a far more sustainable battery from an ethical manufacturer ─ one that actively addresses climate change, reduces carbon emissions and other pollution, and harnesses thoughtful engineering, recycled materials, and renewable energy to build a high-performance, longer-lasting product.

Contact us or download our free Sustainability Fact Book to learn more.