From: Hulse, Daphne <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2024 3:59 PM
To: Kuehl, Mark A <mkuehl@illinois.edu>
Subject: Lithium ion battery from vacuums at Housing?

 

Hi Mark,

 

Last semester when I came by LAR/Allen to do a tour of the recycling system there (during which we discussed the blue bag transition), one of the staff mentioned that there are a particular type of vacuums used that utilize lithium ion batteries, that then must be discarded.

 

Would it be possible to get a specific URL link or photo of what the vacuum / batteries look like? We may have found a vendor willing to responsibility dispose of these (recycle them).

 

Thank you,
Daphne

 

DAPHNE HULSE (she/her)
Zero Waste Coordinator
Facilities & Services | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
+1 (217) 333-7550 | dlhulse2@illinois.edu

https://fs.illinois.edu/zero-waste
 

“If it cannot be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned, or removed from production.” – Pete Seeger

On Jan 23, 2024 4:01 PM, "Kuehl, Mark A" <mkuehl@illinois.edu> wrote:

Oly,

I believe Daphne is talking about the zoom batteries. Can you provide a picture of the batteries for her?

Thanks,

 

MARK A KUEHL
Assistant Director for Housing Building Services
 
University Housing │ Student Affairs │ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
6A LAR │ 1005 S.Lincoln | M/C 030 │ Urbana, IL 61801
217.300.4590│ mkuehl@illinois.edu

www.housing.illinois.edu
 
                 



Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act any written communication to or from university employees regarding university business is a public record and may be subject to public disclosure.

From: Bytnar, Olymer <obytnar@illinois.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2024 4:43 PM
To: Kuehl, Mark A <mkuehl@illinois.edu>
Cc: Hulse, Daphne <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
Subject: Re: FW: Lithium ion battery from vacuums at Housing?

 

Pictures attached.

 

Thank you,

 

Olymer Bytnar 

From: Hulse, Daphne <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2024 2:56 PM
To: Sophie Boel <sophie@redwoodmaterials.com>
Cc: Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu>
Subject: FW: FW: Lithium ion battery from vacuums at Housing?

 

Hi Sophie,

 

Happy new year! I wanted to reach out and ask if this type of lithium ion battery would be of use to Redwood? I recently learned that our Housing department uses these types of batteries fairly regularly for a piece of cleaning equipment, and once they are used they have to discard them and replace with new ones.

 

Thank you,

Daphne

 

DAPHNE HULSE (she/her)
Zero Waste Coordinator
Facilities & Services | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
+1 (217) 333-7550 | dlhulse2@illinois.edu

https://fs.illinois.edu/zero-waste
 

“If it cannot be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned, or removed from production.” – Pete Seeger

From: Sophie Boel <sophie@redwoodmaterials.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2024 12:10 PM
To: Hulse, Daphne <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
Cc: Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu>
Subject: RE: FW: Lithium ion battery from vacuums at Housing?

 

Hi Daphne!

 

Happy New Year to you and the U of I team!  It’s great to hear from you.  We absolutely do take these types of batteries and would be happy to recycle these for you.  Just a few quick questions that will help determine the shipment approach:

 

1. How many of these batteries do you currently have on hand that need to be recycled? (count / wattage – info needed because we have a 300Wh limit per box) I will have to reach out to other areas to see if they have batteries to dispose of. I am only of aware of one at the moment but I am sure there are more in other buildings.
2. What is the frequency per semester / year that you think you would need recycling? (so that we can sort out the sequence that we send boxes and expect shipment back) I would say once a year pickup would work.
3. Do you have a safe place on campus where you are aggregating these batteries right now as they reach end-of-life, or is that also a solution you are looking for? We keep them in the foremen office or equipment room on a shelf.

 

Thanks for reaching out!

 

 

Sophie Boel Internal Communications & Public Affairs Manager 440.759.5401 sophie@redwoodmaterials.com

From: Hulse, Daphne <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2024 11:12 AM
To: Sophie Boel <sophie@redwoodmaterials.com>
Cc: Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu>; Kuehl, Mark A <mkuehl@illinois.edu>
Subject: RE: FW: Lithium ion battery from vacuums at Housing?

 

Hi Sophie,

 

Please see our responses below! Apologies for the delay on my end in communicating with you. I’m looping in Mark here from Housing for any next steps so I am not a bottleneck.

 

Thank you,
Daphne

 

DAPHNE HULSE (she/her)
Zero Waste Coordinator
Facilities & Services | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
+1 (217) 333-7550 | dlhulse2@illinois.edu

https://fs.illinois.edu/zero-waste
 

“If it cannot be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned, or removed from production.” – Pete Seeger

From: Sophie Boel <sophie@redwoodmaterials.com>
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2024 3:27 PM
To: Hulse, Daphne <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
Cc: Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu>; Kuehl, Mark A <mkuehl@illinois.edu>
Subject: RE: FW: Lithium ion battery from vacuums at Housing?

 

Hi Daphne,

 

No worries at all.  Happy to learn more, Mark!

 

Based on your current answers, we can ship you an Obexion box for you to place your single battery in and can accumulate a few more in (depending on physical size and storage capacity of that battery).  When you are ready for it to be picked up, we’ll send you a shipping label and can have it collected.

 

Best,

Sophie

Neither the Waste Transfer Station nor Interstate Batteries (vendor) tracks or weighs the lead acid batteries that are picked up from the cage at the Waste Transfer Station. Rather, the battery unit sold is. The new battery is sold without a core charge, and then the old battery is picked up at a later time. The number of battery units sold is tracked (from 1501 S Oak Street), so this is our best metric for tracking lead acid battery recycling.

Attachment only covers 2022-2023 sales, a request has been sent for historical data.

FYI - lead acid batteries (often used in the automobile context) are some of the most easily recycled and rechargeable batteries out there!

From: Hulse, Daphne Lauren <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, July 5, 2023 3:19 PM
To: Weaver, Jeff <jweaver2@uillinois.edu>
Subject: Surplus and waste memo / batteries

 

Hi Jeff,

 

On a different note, battery recycling is a topic that has come up several times recently. F&S does not have any comprehensive program at this point. DRS collects batteries from departments for disposal through their hazardous waste vendor, but they do not recycle the batteries. Regarding batteries from devices such as computers, laptops, cell phones, tablets, and other small devices, (devices that will not be redistributed out to departments for reuse) do you know how these are handled through the state? If they are recycled?

 

[Surplus response] For the small batteries in those devices, we ship them to Secure Processors, the downstate State contracted electronics recycling vendor.  We don’t know how the vendor handles the batteries on their end after we ship them.

 

Thank you,
Daphne

 

Daphne Hulse (she/her)
Zero Waste Coordinator
Facilities & Services | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
+1 (217) 333-7550 | dlhulse2@illinois.edu
 


Please consider the environment before printing an email. Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act any written communication to or from university employees regarding university business is a public record and may be subject to public disclosure.

On June 26, 2023 Amy Fruehling, Jen Fraterrigo, and Daphne Hulse meet to follow up after initial contact with Redwood Materials

• Amy is the connector so she can stay involved if need be, but batteries are not her expertise

• Ask Stephanie Hess about DRS about battery disposal on campus is how much is recycled. See if departments have a need for this

• Collection drives would be for students, primarily, for their personal items

  • Ask Goodwill about technology collected from Dump and Run - was it a good outlet for students?

• IT would be more surplus-oriented

• Could payment be associated with batteries collected?

• Would just have to try it out and see if it’s worth it - we won't entirely know what the demand will be for the service

• ARC does battery recycling

  • Reach out about that

• Collection sites must be supervised so nothing is mixed in

• Housing or libraries as a place of disposal would be most ideal. Having it available rather than waiting on a collection drive once or twice a year, is Amy's thought

• Seema will be sending over material about how they have done collection drives in other places, so we know how it might run

• Electrical and computer engineering department

  • Specialization in batteries

  • Looking at how to create batteries with a longer life span

  • Do they have a program? Sell to students?

  • A way for iSEE to integrate campus sustainability and research, so Jen will take the first step here

• Redwood contact is an alum, co-founder is tied to Tesla - Amy notes the significance of this

  • Feels like there could be even more than just collecting batteries

• Opening up redwood materials collection to the community - because the spring electronics event is once a year in the spring, so sparse opportunity for the community/county

RE: Campus Sustainability - Redwood Materials

 

 

Great – thank you all for your thoughts and connections.  I’m moving Madhu and Bob to bcc and can loop them back in as needed.

 

Jennifer, Morgan and Daphne, can you please share your interest in joining a call along with your availability for the last 2 weeks in June?  I’ll get a call scheduled with Seema so that we can explore a possible collaboration.

 

Best,

Amy

 

Amy Fruehling, MBA

Senior Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations

College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

1301 W. Gregory Dr.

Urbana, IL  61801

 

217.265.4045

afruehli@illinois.edu

 

From: Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2023 12:06 PM
To: Schooley, Robert Lee <schooley@illinois.edu>; Khanna, Madhu <khanna1@illinois.edu>; Fruehling, Amy <afruehli@illinois.edu>
Cc: White, Morgan <mbwhite@illinois.edu>; Hulse, Daphne Lauren <dlhulse2@illinois.edu>
Subject: RE: Campus Sustainability - Redwood Materials

 

Amy,

 

Bob is correct that campus no longer has a battery recycling program. I would be interested in following up about how we might restart the program. Colleagues in Facilities & Services, including Morgan White and Daphne Hulse, Zero Waste Coordinator, might also be interested in joining a call.

 

On a related note, the alum may be interested in an initiative to recycle components of EV batteries (among other types) for reuse in Europe that leverages a partnership between industry and academia.

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news-archive/2019/new-project-launches-focusing-on-the-sustainable-reprocessing-of-rare-earth-magnets

 

Best,

Jen

 

Jennifer Fraterrigo (she/her)

iSEE Associate Director for Campus Sustainability and
Professor of Landscape and Ecosystem Ecology
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences

University of Illinois

W-423 Turner Hall, 1102 S. Goodwin Ave.

Urbana, IL 61801

jmf@illinois.edu
ph 217-333-9428

https://fraterrigolab.nres.illinois.edu/

 

 

From: Schooley, Robert Lee <schooley@illinois.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2023 9:27 AM
To: Khanna, Madhu <khanna1@illinois.edu>; Fruehling, Amy <afruehli@illinois.edu>
Cc: Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu>; White, Morgan <mbwhite@illinois.edu>
Subject: RE: Campus Sustainability - Redwood Materials

 

Hi Amy,

 

Campus had a battery recycling program but it was discontinued in 2015 due to lack of funding.  It is now left to units to fund recycling programs if they want.

https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/battery-recycling

 

I also thought of Jen Fraterrigo for discussing potential partnerships on campus.

 

Thanks,

 

Bob

 

Robert L. Schooley
Professor and Head
 
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences

College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
W-503 Turner Hall | M/C 047
Urbana, IL 61801
217.244.2729 | schooley@illinois.edu
nres.illinois.edu
 

 

 

 

From: Khanna, Madhu <khanna1@illinois.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2023 5:24 PM
To: Fruehling, Amy <afruehli@illinois.edu>; Schooley, Robert Lee <schooley@illinois.edu>
Cc: Fraterrigo, Jennifer M <jmf@illinois.edu>; White, Morgan <mbwhite@illinois.edu>
Subject: RE: Campus Sustainability - Redwood Materials

 

Hi Amy

 

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. This sounds interesting.  Would you know what kind of batteries she is interested in building a recycling program for?

I am ccing Jen Fraterrigo and Morgan White to let us know if we have any current program for this and get their thoughts on potential opportunities for battery recycling on our campus.  

 

Best

Madhu

 

 

Madhu Khanna

Pronouns: she, her

Alvin H. Baum Family Chair & Director, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment

ACES Distinguished Professor in Environmental Economics

Co-Director, Center for Economics of Sustainability

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

 

Office: 1101 W. Peabody, Suite 336, M/C  635

Urbana IL 61801

 

email: khanna1@illinois.edu; phone: 217-333-5176; fax: 217-333-5538

 

http://ace.illinois.edu/directory/madhu-khanna

https://ceos.illinois.edu/bio-khanna

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LPH4gbUAAAAJ&hl=en

 

https://illinois.zoom.us/j/2173335176?pwd=Ri8rTzQ0S1RxZHpiY2tEWVdaSlhtZz09

 

 

From: Fruehling, Amy <afruehli@illinois.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2023 5:13 PM
To: Khanna, Madhu <khanna1@illinois.edu>; Schooley, Robert Lee <schooley@illinois.edu>
Subject: RE: Campus Sustainability - Redwood Materials

 

Madhu and Bob,

Checking in to bring this request to the top of your email again.  I’d like to get back to our alum contact at Redwood Materials this week. Did you have any thoughts on her request below, or are there others you’d suggest that I reach out to?

 

Thanks!

Amy

 

From: Bollero, German A <gbollero@illinois.edu>
Sent: Friday, May 26, 2023 3:18 PM
To: Fruehling, Amy <afruehli@illinois.edu>
Subject: Re: Campus Sustainability - Redwood Materials

 

I will let Madhu and Bob to respond to this.

Thanks

GB

 

From: "Fruehling, Amy" <afruehli@illinois.edu>
Date: Monday, May 22, 2023 at 2:54 PM
To: German Bollero <gbollero@illinois.edu>, "Khanna, Madhu" <khanna1@illinois.edu>, "Schooley, Robert Lee" <schooley@illinois.edu>
Subject: Campus Sustainability - Redwood Materials

 

Hi Bob, German and Madhu,

 

Redwood Materials, founded by Tesla co-founder, JB Straubel, is a renewable energy company that focuses on making batteries sustainable and affordable by localizing the battery supply chain and producing components in the US from recycled batteries. A fantastic Gies alumni and former student that I worked with, reached out and is interested in creating a battery collection program at Illinois.  She referenced the campus-wide recycling program with Coca Cola.  While I think this could fit nicely into the Campus Sustainability program, I think that we could discuss possible research, project or funding collaborations that would enhance a program of this nature and support an academic partnership.

 

I am reaching out to you given your roles in the college and campus sustainability initiatives.  Are there any programs within iSEE, NRES or that campus is working on that might align well?  Are there others within your units that you recommend that I pose this question to?  I’d like to have a follow up call with the alum, Seema Nilakhe, to share some options, and then can bring others into the conversation to hopefully begin talking about how to move forward.

 

Thank you for your thoughts,

Amy

 

Amy Fruehling, MBA

Sr. Director of Corporate Relations

217.265.4045

 

The PWR SWATeam reviewed the progress made over the course of the semester on various projects and discussed next steps for each. These projects included battery recycling, the rearrangement of outdoor trash and recycling bins, guidelines for the optimal arrangement of indoor bins, expanding SmartWay, and encouraging the use of EPEAT certified products.

Updates made to battery recycling drop-off locations; 190 MRL added, Vet Med removed until we can confirm whether they are still an active location.

These are the Call To Recycle battery recycling program results, from 2012 to August 2017.