Washoe County is proud to partner with Redwood Materials and UNR’s Tech Hub to pilot prototype bins to improve safety and success with consumer-level lithium-battery recycling. This is part of the national goal to develop a full domestic battery supply chain here in Nevada.
Redwood Materials is locally manufacturing 20 wifi-enabled smart bins with activity and heat sensors, as well as fire-suppressing technology. Washoe County will host 10 of these bins in public-facing buildings.
These new bins support a domestic battery supply chain – Nevada’s Lithium Loop – by recycling lithium and other strategic minerals from rechargeable devices in people’s homes: Phones, air pods, laptops, cordless tools, etc.
The prototype, now-patented bins (the patent pending text on the image is out-of-date) are wifi-enabled with heat and activity sensors, with a fire-suppression system to prevent fires. They will lead to safer containment, transportation and recovery of valuable strategic minerals that would otherwise become toxic waste. And the more lithium and other critical minerals we can recycle, the less we’ll have to mine, reducing air and water pollution, disrupted wildlife habitat, and impacts to Indigenous and other local communities.
Deployment is expected in public buildings early 2026, with 10 bins at County facilities and 10 more statewide.