Photo from Business Insider. Inside a Chinese battery recycling plant.

Photo from Business Insider. Inside a Chinese battery recycling plant.

Recycled 18650 Grade C Batteries from China

One last topic on recycling that's worth mentioning are recycled cells from Asia, mainly from China and Malaysia. However it's not for environmental benefit, it's profiteering by some shall we say, immoral people.

Photo from Business Insider. Inside a Chinese battery recycling plant.

Often on Battery Bro we talk about the different grades of cells - A, B, and C. Pictured above is one example of where Grade C batteries come from. These recycling operations sort through many different electronics. One barrel is marked "18650 Batteries". If the battery can still hold a charge, it passes.

Battery rewrapping assembly lines often associated with the *fire* brands then take these cells and put new PVC wrapping over them and sell them as if they were new. There have been Ebay and Amazon sellers doing just this - so remember to always buy 18650 batteries from a reputable source.

Battery Bro only sells Grade A, authentic batteries.