VESTAL, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – The Vestal Rotary is holding a recycling event for Lithium-ion batteries and consumer devices on Saturday, August 13th.

The drive-thru event will take place at the Northminster Presbyterian Church from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The church is located at 711 Farm-to-Market Road.

The Rotary club is partnering with Redwood Materials, a battery/lithium-ion device recycler based out of northern Nevada. Redwood is creating a closed-loop, domestic supply chain for lithium-ion batteries that will drive down our environmental footprint.

Redwood Materials will be accepting phones, laptops, tablets, power tools, electric toothbrushes, wireless headphones and any other rechargeable device with a lithium-ion battery.

According to the company, the largest lithium and cobalt mines in the western hemisphere can be located in America’s junk drawers. If they recover materials from old products, they can significantly decrease society’s reliance on newly mined materials.

Organizer of the project, Jeff Smith, is looking forward to the event as protecting the environment is the Rotary’s 7th area of focus this year.

“This event is a great opportunity to reduce wastes going to our landfill and to create critical materials for the Lithium-Ion battery industry,” said Smith. “If we have success with this event, we will develop additional events in our region.”