Better for the Planet
It’s not just the batteries that fill
up our landfills. Compare one ZPower package
each year to a pile of zinc-air packages including
plastic and cardboard.
ZPower batteries use an environmentally friendly chemistry that allows battery cells to be recycled and the contents reused. ZPower was awarded the AlwaysOn GoingGreen 100 Award for energy storage. The company was honored because 95% of the key elements in ZPower batteries can be recycled. Unlike other traditional microbatteries, ZPower batteries are mercury-free and meet the upcoming U.S. ban on mercury in button cells in June 2011. Eliminating mercury from the battery simplifies the recycling process and avoids contaminating the environment.
Environmental Comparison to Zinc-Air Batteries
Hearing aid patients using ZPower rechargeable batteries will use and discard only one battery per hearing aid each year. In contrast, a patient using zinc-air batteries will use and discard 50 or more cells per hearing aid each year. Traditional zinc-air batteries contain mercury to improve performance while ZPower batteries are mercury-free.
Environmental Comparison to Lithium-Ion Batteries
The primary materials of ZPower batteries (silver and zinc) are fully recyclable. That means that the materials derived from the recycling process are of the same quality as the materials that went into the initial creation of the battery. This reduces the need to mine for new materials and minimizes the removal of silver and zinc from the earth’s crust. In general, recycling requires only 20% of the energy needed for mining and allows the battery to be a long term sustainable technology.
In contrast, the majority of the elements of traditional lithium-ion batteries are downcycled and cannot be reused. The downcycling process reduces the original battery into raw materials of lower quality which can’t be reused for battery production. Additional lithium must be mined from the environment before another battery can be produced.
A Proven Process
The silver recycling process already exists. Over the centuries, refiners perfected the processes for jewelry, tableware, photographic film, and electronics. Additionally, silver obtained from scrap makes up over 30% of the silver that is needed each year to satisfy world demand.