Nihal Tammana keynote speaker

Nihal Tammana is a seventeen-year-old environmental advocate, TEDx speaker, and founder of Recycle My Battery, a youth-led nonprofit focused on battery recycling and education.

He started Recycle My Battery in 2019, when he was ten. Today, Recycle My Battery has recycled more than 900,000 batteries and placed more than 1,750 collection bins in schools, libraries, businesses, community centers, and other locations. Its programs have educated more than 85 million people through media coverage, school programs, events, campaigns, and community outreach. More than 1,000 young people have volunteered with the organization, which now has a presence in over five countries.

Nihal also created the Battery Challenge, a competition that gives schools and students a simple way to take part. Students learn about battery safety and recycling, collect used batteries, and compete with other participating schools. The program has helped Nihal bring battery recycling into schools while giving students a project they can lead themselves.

His work has been recognized by CNN Heroes, which named him a Young Wonder, and by the International Children's Peace Prize, where he was selected as a Top 3 finalist. He has also received The Diana Award, the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, the President's Environmental Youth Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the International Young Eco-Hero Award, and the Russ Berrie Making a Difference Award in the Gen Z category.

In 2025, Nihal earned a Guinness World Record for creating the world's longest line of batteries using 31,204 batteries. His environmental work has also been included in an educational textbook used by students in Germany.

Nihal has delivered TEDx talks and spoken at schools, conferences, environmental events, youth programs, and community forums.

He is still a high school student and continues to run Recycle My Battery while working with schools, volunteers, recycling partners, and community organizations. When he speaks to students, he draws from what he has learned since starting the organization at age ten: finding a problem, starting with the resources available, dealing with setbacks, and figuring out how to keep an idea growing.

For companies and leadership audiences, Nihal brings the perspective of someone from Gen Z who has spent years trying to get people to change a simple environmental behavior. He speaks about sustainability, youth participation, persistence, and what he has learned from working with schools, businesses, nonprofits, and thousands of young people.