A Charged Alliance to Power U.S. Clean Energy

A new partnership aims to make U.S. battery recycling easier, safer, and more self-sufficient

4 Nov 2025

A quiet revolution is under way in America’s battery industry. On September 30th American Battery Technology Company and Call2Recycle announced a partnership designed to make recycling lithium-ion batteries easier and more widespread. The two firms hope to knit together a patchwork system, linking Call2Recycle’s thousands of drop-off sites with American Battery Technology’s recycling plants, to create a seamless domestic recovery network.

For years America has fallen short in collecting enough used batteries to meet its appetite for lithium, cobalt and nickel, the metals that power electric cars and smartphones. Most are still mined abroad, leaving the country exposed to supply shocks. The new alliance seeks to lessen that dependence by keeping valuable materials circulating within the United States. “This partnership provides the missing link in America’s circular battery economy,” said Ryan Melsert, American Battery Technology’s chief executive. “It connects consumers directly to recycling infrastructure, keeping valuable materials in use instead of in landfills.”

The collaboration arrives as Washington is treating battery recycling as a matter of national strategy. Federal programmes through the Department of Energy now fund infrastructure and research intended to build a self-sufficient clean-energy supply chain. The two firms’ initiative dovetails neatly with those ambitions, offering a private-sector model for how circular economies might take root.

Industry watchers see the move as more logistical than technical. “You can’t recycle what you can’t collect,” observed Michelle Carter, an energy analyst at GreenTech Insights. In other words, the challenge is not only in processing materials but in getting them into the system in the first place.

Safety remains an obstacle. Lithium-ion batteries are volatile if mishandled, and rules for transporting and storing them vary by state. Both companies are working with regulators to tighten standards nationwide.

If the model succeeds, it could reshape how America manages spent batteries across industries, from cars to consumer electronics. In an era defined by energy transition and geopolitical rivalry over critical minerals, the alliance suggests that pragmatic cooperation, not technological bravado, may prove the country’s most renewable resource.