Who invented rechargeable lithium batteries?

Rechargable batteries typically contain fewer metals than their disposable counterparts. Picture Shutterstock

Of all human ideas, one of the strangest is the mass-market, disposable consumer product. At a time when resources are being rapidly depleted, products are manufactured to be used once then thrown away. Some will make it into recycling, but most end up as waste.

There's a long list of such products, with one of the earliest examples being the BIC ballpoint pen that was introduced in 1950. By 2006, 100 billion had been sold.