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June 24th, 2024

Up to 78M batteries will be discarded daily by 2025, researchers warn

Researchers from the EnABLES project warn of a potential daily disposal of 78 million batteries by 2025. Emphasizing battery lifespan extension for IoT devices, they propose sustainable recharging methods for power autonomy.

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Up to 78M batteries will be discarded daily by 2025, researchers warn

Researchers from the EU-funded EnABLES project have warned that up to 78 million batteries will be discarded daily by 2025 if improvements are not made to extend their lifespan. The project emphasizes the need for batteries to outlast the Internet of Things (IoT) devices they power. By harvesting energy from the environment and reducing energy consumption in IoT devices, the project aims to achieve power autonomy through sustainable battery recharging. This approach could lead to significant benefits, such as a solar panel the size of half a credit card being able to power a sensor indefinitely. The current mismatch between the operational life of IoT devices and the lifespan of their batteries results in economic and environmental challenges, as well as missed opportunities in various sectors. Collaborative efforts across disciplines are seen as crucial to revolutionize the design, usage, and disposal of batteries for a more sustainable IoT ecosystem.

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Link Icon 10 comments
By @jsheard - 4 months
Hopefully they get around to banning disposable vapes sooner rather than later, the needless waste with those is just ridiculous. All vapes use lithium batteries due to their high current requirements, but the disposable ones simply have no way to recharge the battery.

Not to mention the fire risk, the vape juice usually runs out before the battery fully discharges so they end up being thrown away still partially charged, which makes them more unstable and eager to catch fire if they get damaged during processing.

https://nfcc.org.uk/over-1200-battery-fires-in-bin-lorries-a...

By @lmpdev - 4 months
I wonder how many are Zinc Carbon that consumers erroneously buy not realising they are 40-50% the capacity of an alkaline

Yes Zinc Carbon is better to end up in landfill hazardous materials wise, but the amount of carbon dioxide expended in their production must be enormous globally

Shout out to Ikea selling rebadged Eneloops for ~2-3x cheaper than Panasonic

By @blueflow - 4 months
Society should evaluate which devices actually need to run on batteries. It makes me feel odd if i have to replace the batteries in a wall clock that is like half a meter next to a power socket. Wall clocks never get moved around...
By @PaulKeeble - 4 months
There are so many devices that are made without replaceable batteries its becoming a real problem. I want an electric toothbrush that takes 18650 or similar cells, same with a shaver and just about every other small powered tool we need replaceable batteries as the device lasts longer than the cells do and it makes recycling the cells harder.
By @pcdoodle - 4 months
We need a standard size and connection layout for smaller devices. Something with built in protection so the end users can be careless with them.

I hope to one day see a few rectangular ones (Like old smart phones) and a few cylindrical (something besides 18650 / 21700).

By @tmaly - 4 months
There was a post on HN a few years back about an MIT researcher making batteries out of more common materials.

Just like packaging, I think more needs to be done to make materials that are easier to recycle with lower amounts of effort and energy.

By @windex - 4 months
It's batteries plus the devices they are in. Its maddening to see how many perfectly good devices get thrown out because of dead batteries.
By @tombert - 4 months
I don’t know anything about economics, so consider this disclaimer, but if it’s a concern that the 78M batteries per day is a problem, then maybe we should tax batteries a lot more now to control for externalities?
By @bArray - 4 months
If you think that is bad, wait until we need to start decommissioning electric vehicles on scale. I've worked on fossil fuel vehicle EOL for quite a while and a very large amount of recycling happens, there is literally zero waste. Nobody I know wants to do the same for electric vehicles, they are simply too dangerous.