The Battery Network, based in Atlanta, has joined the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, as a corporate partner. The two organizations announced the agreement as a joint effort to strengthen battery collection infrastructure and channel education and compliance resources to waste and resource management professionals across North America.

Under the partnership, The Battery Network will distribute its battery collection, safety and compliance materials to the SWANA membership base. The stated goal is practical: give municipal and private-sector operators the tools to build out local collection programs and run public education campaigns on proper battery management.

The material stream at issue is a growing operational hazard. Lithium-ion batteries now power an increasing share of consumer products, and when they enter household trash or curbside recycling carts, they can be damaged or crushed and ignite. Those fires endanger workers and communities, disrupt recycling and waste operations, and impose damage and cleanup costs on local governments and service providers. The Battery Network frames safe, convenient collection programs as the mechanism that keeps batteries out of the waste stream and directs them into appropriate recovery pathways.

"Preventing lithium-ion battery fires is a top priority for SWANA," says Carolyn F. Muller, acting CEO of SWANA. "The Battery Network brings decades of experience and a trusted system for safe battery collection. By connecting its expertise and resources with the SWANA community, this partnership will help advance practical solutions that protect workers, facilities, equipment and the public."

The Battery Network brings more than 30 years of experience in battery collection and recovery to the arrangement. The organization operates a nationwide system that links consumers, businesses, manufacturers, retailers and municipalities through education, convenient collection sites, compliant logistics and material recovery.

"Safe battery collection requires collaboration across the full battery lifecycle," says Leo Raudys, CEO of The Battery Network. "We are excited to partner with SWANA and share resources and solutions that can help waste and recycling professionals reduce risk, improve collection and keep valuable battery materials in circulation."

For the recycling sector, the arrangement speaks to a structural problem. Batteries commingled with mixed recyclables and municipal solid waste represent a persistent fire risk at transfer stations, materials recovery facilities and collection vehicles. Operators have increasingly looked to producer-side and stewardship organizations for collection networks capable of intercepting batteries before they enter the curb-side stream. The Battery Network's system — collection sites plus compliant logistics plus material recovery — is the model the partnership intends to scale through SWANA's membership.

The two organizations say they will collaborate on creating educational content and opportunities promoting safe battery collection and responsible recycling. The partnership will also support safer operations and help communities direct batteries away from trash and curbside recycling and into designated collection programs.

What to watch next: the educational content and collection resources the partners commit to release, and whether SWANA members translate those materials into expanded designated battery collection programs in their jurisdictions — the operational milestone that determines whether lithium-ion batteries stay out of trash and recycling carts.