Responsible Battery Coalition

What Responsible Battery Coalition does

The Responsible Battery Coalition (RBC) is a nonprofit industry coalition founded in April 2017 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It convenes battery manufacturers, automotive OEMs, aftermarket retailers, fleet operators, recyclers, academic institutions, and government stakeholders to advance the responsible production, transport, sale, use, reuse, recycling, and resource recovery of transportation, industrial, and stationary batteries. The coalition operates as a membership-based organization, with revenue derived from enterprise membership dues; members include Clarios (founding member and largest U.S. battery manufacturer), Advance Auto Parts, AutoZone, FedEx, Honda, Ford, Walmart, O'Reilly Auto Parts, ENTEK, Li-Cycle, and others.

RBC's core deliverables are programs and research outputs rather than products. Flagship initiatives include the 2 Million Battery Challenge (consumer-facing used battery retrieval campaign), Backhaul Alaska (battery retrieval from remote communities in partnership with the Solid Waste Alaska Taskforce), the Critical Minerals Leadership Roundtable (domestic mineral processing and refining capacity), and the Green Principles for Vehicle Energy Storage developed with the University of Michigan and published in the Journal of Energy Storage. The organization runs joint research with Argonne National Laboratory's ReCell Center and participates in the World Economic Forum's Global Battery Alliance.

Go-to-market is community/membership-led: the coalition engages through policy advocacy (testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, formal comments to the SBA), research collaborations, public awareness campaigns, and cross-sector convening. RBC's team is small (1–10 employees plus technical consultants), with leadership including Executive Director Steve Christensen, President Adam Muellerweiss (also Executive Director of Sustainability at Clarios), and Director of Communications and Programs John Kyte. Recent strategic emphasis has shifted toward national security and critical mineral supply chain policy, exemplified by the March 2026 "Wartime Footing" report with the Coalition for a Prosperous America.

Name

Responsible Battery Coalition

Legal name

Responsible Battery Coalition

Website

https://responsiblebatterycoalition.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Responsible Battery Coalition is a nonprofit industry coalition, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Milwaukee, that convenes battery manufacturers, automotive companies, retailers, and researchers to advance responsible battery lifecycle management, recycling, and critical mineral supply chain policy through membership-based programs and advocacy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable Battery Management Coalition

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953)

akta.pro primary industry

Battery Recycling & Materials Recovery (Li-ion, LFP, Flow, Lead-Acid) (EUAMALAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Collection, Logistics & Reverse Supply Chain (Transport, Sorting, Tracking) (EUAFACAA), Supplier Engagement & Value-Chain Decarbonization Programs (EUABAKAE), Climate Finance Strategy (CapEx planning, green finance, incentives & grants) (EUABAKAG)

Keywords

• Battery lifecycle management
• Circular economy programs
• Critical minerals policy
• Battery recycling research
• Sustainable energy storage

Headquarters

HQ city

Milwaukee

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: The coalition operates through membership contributions from battery manufacturers, automotive companies, retailers, and other stakeholders in the battery ecosystem. Members include Advance Auto Parts, AutoZone, Clarios, FedEx, Honda, O' Reilly Auto Parts, and others who pay membership dues to support the coalition's initiatives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The Responsible Battery Coalition (RBC) is a membership-based industry coalition that advances the responsible production, transport, sale, use, reuse, recycling, and resource recovery of transportation, industrial, and stationary batteries. It operates programs such as the 2 Million Battery Challenge, Backhaul Alaska, the Critical Minerals Leadership Roundtable, and Green Principles for Vehicle Energy Storage, and engages in policy advocacy, multi-stakeholder research collaborations, and consumer education campaigns.

Product overview

The Responsible Battery Coalition is a coalition of companies, academics, and organizations—not a product company—committed to the responsible management of batteries throughout their lifecycle. The organization operates several programs including the 2 Million Battery Challenge consumer awareness initiative, the Backhaul Alaska battery retrieval program for remote communities, research partnerships with Argonne National Laboratory and University of Michigan, and the Critical Minerals Leadership Roundtable. The coalition focuses on advancing responsible production, transport, sale, use, reuse, recycling, and resource recovery of transportation, industrial, and stationary batteries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Coalition Membership Invitation-based membership program for companies involved in battery manufacturing, sales, use, or responsible reuse, recycling, and management of energy storage devices. Members pay dues and gain access to research collaborations, policy advocacy, networking, and joint initiatives.
• 2 Million Battery Challenge Consumer awareness and battery retrieval program designed to retrieve and recycle 2 million used vehicle batteries by partnering with retailers to make battery recycling convenient for consumers.
• Backhaul Alaska Program Battery retrieval and recycling program supporting collection of used vehicle batteries from remote Alaskan communities, formalized through an MOU with the Solid Waste Alaska Taskforce.
• Critical Minerals Leadership Roundtable A leadership roundtable focused on expanding domestic processing and refining capacity, strengthening critical mineral supply chains, promoting responsible recycling, and accelerating a secure circular economy for batteries.
• Green Principles for Vehicle Energy Storage Ten environmental principles developed with University of Michigan researchers to guide environmentally responsible EV battery manufacturing, use, and end-of-life management, published in the Journal of Energy Storage.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99% recycling rate for lead-acid starter batteries in the U.S.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Argonne National Laboratory / ReCell CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 November 2019RBC entered into a joint research project with Argonne National Laboratory's ReCell Center to advance battery innovation and ensure batteries of tomorrow are designed for maximum recyclability. The partnership focuses on lifecycle modeling and closed-loop recycling research.
• Backhaul Alaska / Solid Waste Alaska Taskforce (SWAT)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 June 2019MOU signed to support retrieval and recycling of used vehicle batteries from remote Alaskan communities. Coalition provides educational, transportation and recycling resources for the program.
• University of Michigan - Center for Sustainable SystemscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 May 2019Partnership to publish Green Principles for Vehicle Energy Storage and conduct research on EV battery lifecycle management, degradation prevention, and consumer best practices.
• Canadian Battery AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 March 2019MOU to support battery retrieval from remote Canadian communities, combining RBC's 2 Million Battery Challenge with CBA's stewardship program.
• Advance Auto PartscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember company participating in coalition initiatives including the 2 Million Battery Challenge and responsible battery lifecycle management programs.
• AutoZonecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember company supporting coalition initiatives for responsible battery management and recycling.
• ClarioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding member and largest battery manufacturer, providing leadership and hosting RBC leadership (Adam Muellerweiss serves as VP of Corporate Affairs at Clarios).
• ENTEKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember company and CEO Larry Keith publicly supported RBC policy initiatives for domestic battery manufacturing.
• FedExcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember company committed to responsible battery management for fleet operations and named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies in 2023.
• HondacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember company focused on best practices for responsible battery recycling from dealers and third-party sources.
• O'Reilly Auto PartscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember company participating in battery recycling initiatives including Backhaul Alaska and 2 Million Battery Challenge.
• Capital City VenturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember company participating in coalition activities.
• World Economic Forum - Global Battery AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRBC is an active member of the WEF Global Battery Alliance, participating in working groups on lifecycle management, circular economy, and supply chain innovations since 2017.
• Coalition for a Prosperous AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint report 'Wartime Footing: How the United States Can Reverse China's Dominance of Battery Minerals Processing' released March 2026, warning about critical mineral supply chain vulnerabilities.
• Pure EarthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on global lead pollution prevention, particularly in developing nations where improper battery recycling causes childhood lead exposure.
• UNICEFminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThrough Clarios Foundation partnership with Pure Earth and UNICEF (Protecting Every Child's Potential initiative) to eliminate improper recycling and childhood lead poisoning.
• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRBC Science Advisory Board Chair Ramon Sanchez is Director of the Sustainable Technologies and Health Program at Harvard.
• Living Lands and WatersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnvironmental nonprofit partner on river and environmental cleanup initiatives.
• The Sustainability ConsortiumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch organization partner with RBC Science Advisory Board member Carole Mars as Senior Research Lead.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Call2Recycle: Nonprofit stewardship organization operating battery collection and recycling programs across the U.S. and Canada. Closely comparable to RBC's 2 Million Battery Challenge and Backhaul Alaska programs in mission, geographic footprint, and member-funded nonprofit structure.
• Battery Council International: North American trade association for the lead-acid battery industry covering manufacturing, recycling, and regulatory issues. BCI represents battery manufacturers (including Clarios) on stewardship and recycling policy — a directly comparable trade-body model to RBC.
• Portable Rechargeable Battery Association (PRBA): Trade association representing rechargeable battery manufacturers and recyclers on product stewardship, recycling, and transport regulation. Directly comparable in scope to RBC's coverage of transportation, industrial, and stationary battery policy and recycling.
• Global Battery Alliance (World Economic Forum): Multi-stakeholder alliance convened by the WEF focused on battery lifecycle, circular economy, and supply chain transparency. RBC is itself a member of the GBA, and the two organizations work on overlapping standards and policy frameworks, making GBA the closest direct peer.

Regional players

• Recharge (European Portable Battery Association): European trade association for portable rechargeable batteries with focus on collection, recycling, and EU regulatory compliance. Operates the comparable membership-coalition model to RBC but serves European geographies and EU Battery Directive frameworks.

Others

• National Association of Manufacturers: Largest U.S. industrial trade association where RBC's Director of Communications and Programs previously worked. Provides relevant adjacency on industrial policy advocacy infrastructure, federal agency engagement models, and broad-manufacturer coalition building.

Emerging players

• Redwood Materials: Battery recycling and cathode-active material company founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel. Operates in the same battery circular-economy narrative that RBC advocates for, and shapes the policy and standards environment RBC engages with.
• Circular Energy Alliance: Coalition working on battery stewardship and circular economy policy, operating a comparable multi-stakeholder advocacy model focused on lithium-ion and EV battery end-of-life management. Conceptually adjacent to RBC's mission in the same policy space.
• Li-Cycle: Lithium-ion battery recycling company and RBC member. Not a direct coalition peer but a key commercial counterpart whose lithium-ion recycling scale and trajectory directly affects the relevance of RBC's advocacy priorities.

Broad incumbents

• International Lead Association: Global trade body for the lead industry, covering lead-acid batteries alongside other lead uses. Overlaps with RBC on lead-acid battery stewardship but covers a broader scope (mining, smelting, other applications) and a global footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/respbattery
• YouTubevimeo.com/user197842001
• Facebookfacebook.com/responsiblebattery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/responsible-battery-coalition

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Responsible Battery Coalition