You’ve seen the photos in battery ads: A pristine lawn. Solar panels, maybe a wind turbine. And “green” batteries strutting in the foreground.
Reality isn’t as pretty: Those “green” batteries were probably manufactured using electricity from fossil fuels -- and up to 95% of them will end up in a landfill.
Here’s what’s happening, in a nutshell:
Battery demand is skyrocketing... and so are misleading claims about battery sustainability.
CLAIM: “Our batteries are ‘green.’”
REALITY: There’s no legal definition for ‘green;’ without data behind it, it’s a marketing phrase.
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CLAIM: “Designed for renewable energy”
REALITY: Anyone can slap a “renewable energy” label on a battery. So be sure there’s proof to back up a manufacturer’s claims. And make sure it’s in plain English, to save your time. (Better explanations make it faster and easier for you to get the gist.)
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CLAIM: “Our batteries are recyclable.”
REALITY: What % of the battery is recyclable? What’s the source? How/where do you return batteries for recycling?
There used to be three ways to deal with battery greenwashing:
- Bury our heads in the sand
- Take marketers at their word, without proof
- Read hundreds of pages of scientific papers, government reports, and corporate ESRG reports... until you’ve learned enough to make an informed decision.
Fortunately, there’s a fourth option if you want to improve sustainability -- without investing a ton of time.
We’ve done the heavy lifting for you in this article from North American Clean Energy -- “How to Spot Greenwashing...” (click here to read it now).
Click the picture above for the full story.
Crown Battery’s John Connell breaks down Battery Greenwashing and Sustainability in just a few minutes, including:
- Greenwashing vs. Reality
- Behind the Battery Recycling Gap: Which batteries are only collected 5% of the time
- One simple question that reveals upstream carbon emissions
- How to check out a battery company’s energy efficiency efforts
- Why the best battery isn’t a new one (it’s ____)
