Hawaii seeks answers to state’s lithium-ion battery conundrum

As Hawaii strives toward its clean energy goals, there is growing concern over the waste stream of lithium-ion batteries that come with renewable energy technology.

The addition of more electric vehicles and solar photovoltaic panels with battery storage leads to the problem of what happens when these lithium-­ion products are no longer usable and need to be recycled or disposed. It’s a challenge that involves high costs, responsibility and ramifications.

House Bill 1972 seeks answers by establishing a working group to examine how they can best be recycled and reused.

In its introductory form, HB1972 sought to set up an EV battery recycling program using environmentally sound management practices in the state. It would have made the producer, such as the auto manufacturer, responsible for managing the batteries.

After pushback, the bill morphed into setting up a working group within the Hawaii State Energy Office to make policy recommendations on recycling EV batteries.

The companion bill, Senate Bill 2311, was deferred.

State Rep. Lisa Marten, who introduced the House bill, said she was not disappointed with the measure’s change of direction.

“I think that those conversations need to be had with industry,” she said, “to see what they are already doing, and how those efforts can be combined with other local efforts.”

Marten said Hawaii should not miss out on the opportunity to reuse EV batteries locally. The updated bill on Thursday was approved by two Senate committees, with no opposing votes.

The conundrum

The question of how Hawaii will recycle or dispose of a growing volume of lithium-ion battery waste as the state scales up its clean energy goals is a conundrum, given the state’s geographic limitations.

EV adoption in the state is growing, with close to 30,700 passenger EVs registered in February, a 30.8% increase from the same time last year.

In a detailed policy report provided to the state Legislature in December, the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Hawaii Natural Energy Institute concluded that multiple strategies would be required to address green energy waste management in Hawaii.

Numerous hurdles include how to hold accountable industries that are mostly abroad and constantly evolving, along with the costs, logistics and hazards of storing and shipping these materials out of state.

Currently, lithium-ion batteries are regulated as universal hazardous waste if they are generated by a business, but not if they are generated by an individual or household, according to the state Health Department.

The commercial waste must be shipped out of state under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

After weighing options, the report’s lead author Michael Cooney said Hawaii needs a stewardship program to pursue as many strategies as possible.

“The results of my work fundamentally show the state has no option but to pass into law a statewide stewardship program that collects revenue to pay for the collection, local transport, local pre-processing of Li-ion batteries to materials safe for low-cost ocean shipping, ocean transport, and then mainland land transport to recyclers that can accept the pre-processed materials,” said Cooney.

The original bill, which proposed producer responsibility for EV batteries, was supported by several environmental groups, as well as Hawaii County’s Department of Environmental Management, which said it did not have the resources to “manage this emerging waste stream” but that producers have the expertise to do so.

The Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association opposed it, saying the measure could unintentionally set back the state’s clean energy efforts. The state Health Department had concerns over how the measure was drafted, including the creation of an entirely new program with no funding or positions.

The Grassroots Institute of Hawaii was concerned that making producers responsible for the batteries could backfire, resulting in auto manufacturers ending all sales and shipments to Hawaii. Additionally, the program could result in huge price increases, making EVs unaffordable in Hawaii.

The formation of a working group, on the other hand, was welcomed by various stakeholders, including the State Energy Office, Health Department and the automobile dealers association.

A crisis in slow motion

Without realistic solutions, Cooney fears Hawaii is “facing a crisis occurring in slow motion,” and believes the state needs to be proactive in averting it.

“I came to the conclusion that we’re going to have an extremely dangerous situation,” he said, “with the accumulation of lithium-ion batteries that are not disposed of properly.”

The potential risks? Another Lahaina-style fire.

What he fears is the extent of illegal dumping that will occur when costs of dealing with the lithium-ion waste stream are too high or too challenging, and associated fire risks.

Hawaii, as a state in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, has few options for getting lithium-ion batteries to recycling facilities out-of-state. At the same time, the costs for shipping them is expensive, and could become even more so.

Under U.S. Department of Transportation regulations, there are strict rules for the ocean-shipping of lithium-ion batteries, considered a hazardous material.

The batteries must be packaged in a specific way, placed in fireproof containers with fire-retardant fillers and labeled correctly.

Those that are damaged or recalled may not be transported by air.

At least one carrier has opted out of shipping damaged lithium ions. Should ship insurers decide risks are too high after incidents such as a recent cargo ship fire in Alaska, shipping may no longer be an option in the long run, he said.

Cooney is concerned that faced with hurdles, businesses and consumers will increasingly resort to illegal dumping, which poses health and environmental hazards — and those fire risks.

Fire hazards

Upon completing the latest report, Cooney said he began to realize that lithium-ion batteries were the largest problem, not just in the form of storage batteries for solar, but in a plethora of consumer products.

“The whole grid is becoming electrified,” he said, “in cars, power tools, scooters, e-bikes.”

These discarded items with flammable lithium-ions could end up sitting unmonitored in warehouses, transfer stations, and along the side of the road or in someone’s backyard waiting for pickup.

Due to their composition, lithium-ion batteries can overheat and ignite under certain conditions — and once ignited, are difficult to extinguish due to thermal runaway, a chain reaction created by one heated battery cell spreading to the next.

The Honolulu Fire Department began tracking lithium-­ion-related fires in the past year and a half or so.

Last year, there were 18 lithium-ion-related fires, according to HFD. In 2022, there were four, but HFD did not track them throughout that entire year.

The 18 represent a very small percentage of 2,584 total fire-related incidents, including 228 structure fires in 2023, said HFD, but not all resulted in structure fires.

The most recent lithium-­ion battery fire occurred in February at a home in Kailua.

HFD determined the fire was accidental, and that the point of origin was the lithium-ion battery for an electric bike being charged in the garage.

“As far as a lithium-ion batteries are concerned, the only way to put that type of fire out is to let the fuel run out,” said HFD Fire Inspector Carl Otsuka. “You gotta let it burn itself out.”

To his knowledge, there have been no car fires from EVs on Oahu.

Possible solutions

Jason Gruver, owner of E Opala, has focused mostly on recycling electronic waste such as cellphones, computers and servers, and has had to deal with a growing stream of lithium-ion products, including e-bike batteries.

He recently picked up his first EV battery as part of a partnership with Call2Recycle, a national nonprofit consumer battery stewardship program that contracted with Cutter Ford to handle their batteries. Call2Recycle is subsidized by battery manufacturers, he said.

Gruver also works with various solar companies to recycle their discarded panels and parts at a price of about $21 per pound to ship to the U.S. mainland. It’s expensive due to the packaging, he said.

“We need special barrels and no one has them here, so they have to bring them from the mainland,” he said. “We have to make sure everything’s packed properly.”

Some companies go through with the recycling, and others do not after the price quote. Gruver said he does not know what they do with their hazardous waste but knows options are limited.

“I have no idea where it goes,” he said. “It goes somewhere.”

In Cooney’s opinion, Hawaii must set up a preprocessing facility for lithium-ion materials on-island to lower costs for shipping — or to avert a disaster, should shipping no longer be an option.

Other U.S. states such as California have other transport options, including rail and highway, but Hawaii does not.

The Hawaii State Energy Office has drawn up a “project for island processing,” and is seeking a federal grant of $8 million to build a demonstration facility at an estimated cost of $20 million.

The facility would break down batteries into more manageable pieces and materials for safer shipping. It would be built at the Kapolei facility of Radius Recycling, formerly Schnitzer Steel, which recycles metals.

“If you want to go for 2045 and shut down our power plants, then you’d better have a 100% guarantee-able way to process these batteries at end of life, to render the material safe for shipping,” said Cooney. “If you don’t, I think you’re taking an absolutely unacceptable risk … I just don’t think it’s a risk we should take.”