Clarios is the 2023 winner of the World Sustainability Awards’ “Circular Economy Award.”
Clarios was one of 15 companies shortlisted for the award and the only automotive company to make the final round of consideration.
Clarios operates a battery formation facility in Middletown that employs 325 people. The site contributes to the final stages in manufacturing advanced technology. This includes starting, light, and ignition batteries that power the electrical systems in a vehicle and advanced lead-acid (AGM) batteries used in automotive, light and heavy equipment, and marine applications.
“We are proud of this recognition from the World Sustainability Awards and honored to be among many other industry-leading companies striving to operate sustainably,” Clarios CEO Mark Wallace said. “We look forward to continued collaboration with our customers, partners, suppliers, policymakers and other stakeholders to meet the ongoing challenge of building a sustainable future.”
The award recognizes businesses rethinking their operations and value chains “to bring about a more sustainable future,” according to the World Sustainability Awards website. “It demands the creation of ‘loops’ in which materials and products are continuously reused, recycled, and retained. This category recognizes an organization that has gone above and beyond to help create this economy, making significant changes to how they run their business to do so.”
Every hour of every day across its global system, Clarios collects and turns about 8,000 used batteries into new ones to ensure all vehicle batteries are responsibly designed and can recovered and repurposed. Products are designed so up to 99 percent of the battery materials can be responsibly recovered, recycled, and reused to make new batteries or other products. By using recycled materials in its batteries, Clarios uses 90 percent less energy and generates 90 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than those made with virgin materials, a release stated.
The U.S. Department of Energy recognized Clarios in 2021 as a Phase II winner of its Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize. The company continues to apply the expertise of its people to identify solutions to the challenges that lie ahead for Li-Ion recycling and to support automakers as they focus on recycling.
Clarios has 16,000 employees in over 100 countries. It was spun off from Johnson Controls.
Clarios closed a portion of its Middletown operations a few years ago as battery production shifted to other sites.
