Cirba Solutions embarks on community education effort

Charlotte, North Carolina-based battery management and recycling company Cirba Solutions is investing in sustainable battery recycling education through its SustainABILITY 10,000 initiative, committing to 10,000 hours of community engagement, sustainable practices and education across North America.

Cirba Solutions' new initiative focuses on increasing consumer education and social awareness of battery recycling opportunities in local communities.

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"In battery recycling, we experience the gap between desire and education every day,” Cirba Solutions President and CEO David Klanecky says. “Despite most consumers wanting to recycle batteries, many simply don't know how or where to do it. The result is that the majority end up in the trash or landfill and are not being properly recovered following battery end-of-life.”

He adds that battery recycling is just one example of the eco-friendly choices consumers would like to make but don’t because education about how to turn that desire into action is lacking.

“By committing 10,000 hours of education into our communities and neighborhoods, our mission is to move that needle and empower people to take action and live a more sustainable life," he says.

Cirba Solutions will begin its efforts in the communities where it operates: North Carolina, South Carolina, Arizona, California, Michigan, Ohio and British Columbia. Its efforts will focus on three areas:

• Working in partnership with local communities, Cirba Solutions will both integrate into existing education plans while creating new ones to help spread the word about how and where individuals can recycle batteries.
• Leveraging the power of neighborhood connection, Cirba Solutions will provide physical and visual opportunities for programs such as battery collection events, local education opportunities and support of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities.
• Cirba Solutions will build online resources and tools accessible to every community to share resources and activities to develop green and sustainable literacy.

SustainABILITY 10,000 will kick off the weekend leading up to Earth Week 2024, when Cirba Solutions will participate in a collection event with the Detroit Zoo as part of the GreenFest 2024 E-Recycling Event. Saturday, April 20, and Sunday, April 21, Cirba Solutions will help the community divert material from local landfills by collecting batteries.

"This initiative takes what we do at Cirba Solutions every day and raises the bar, so we're focused on delivering actionable value into communities," says Karen Gay, community engagement manager at Cirba Solutions. "Our team is passionate about making a difference, and we can't wait to continue the great work we've done alongside community leaders as well as create new partnerships with organizations who share our mission."

SustainABILITY 10,000 focuses and builds upon Cirba Solutions' continuing commitment to its give-back culture, according to the company. In 2023 alone, Cirba Solutions worked with regional organizations and various local communities to discuss safety, planning and training and worked with and discussed sustainability practices with U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony of Cirba Solutions' battery recycling facility expansion in Lancaster, Ohio. The company also engaged with more than a half dozen local community groups to support causes ranging from holiday toy donations to reducing hunger in regional communities.