As part of our overall sustainability plan, Nube iO is partnering with Envirostream to provide our customers with a battery recycling solution to reduce the quantity of batteries entering landfills.
If you’ve read our latest blog analysing the exponential growth of IoT, you’ll be familiar with some figures we shared indicating that by 2025, there will be an estimated 41.6 billion IoT devices. Typically, IoT devices are battery powered using one to three single-use batteries. Multiply this by a few billion sensors and we’re now looking at an incomprehensible number of batteries that will be manufactured, consumed and disposed. It is now more important than ever for organisations to implement sustainability initiatives and move towards a circular economy.
This battery recycling program will enable customers to return their used sensor batteries to the Nube iO collection box, which will then be collected and recycled by Envirostream. Larger customers with distributed and remote sites are encouraged to purchase their own collection boxes to reduce transport of dangerous goods.
Envirostream maintains that their technology “recovers around 95% of the materials contained in a battery.” The recovered materials are then used to create new batteries, which prevents used batteries from entering landfills. Moreover, battery recycling means less natural resources need to be sourced to create new products. This service is truly contributing to a circular economy.
“Many of our customers find us when looking to reduce their environmental footprint. For example, many want to reduce their utilities consumption by optimising their HVAC and monitoring utility meters. This can also help achieve Greenstar ratings. Now we can help businesses reduce their environmental footprint without them having to worry about the environmental impact of individual devices.” – Managing Director, Matt Cady.
ABRI’s market analysis of the Australian battery industry highlighted some truly shocking statistics about battery usage in Australia:
- 350 million batteries are purchased annually in Australia
- Only 4% of handheld batteries (less than 1 kilogram) are recycled
- The main barrier to recycling batteries is a lack of collection systems
- 180 million handheld batteries enter landfill annually, compared to just 2 million which are reprocessed
These stats reinforce the urgency especially for IoT OEM’s to take on long-term sustainability initiatives.
Nube iO will continue to improve our sustainability plan over the coming years, ensuring we consider the manufacturing process, packaging and other recycling initiatives for our hardware range.