Legislators have been filing bills as the 2025 session starts up, and in the e-scrap realm, two main topics are again at the forefront: extended producer responsibility for batteries and the right to repair consumer electronics.
Here’s a rundown of bills that have been introduced so far:
Right to repair
Five states so far have introduced bills touching on the right to repair consumer electronics.
Legislators in Connecticut introduced HB 6053, which at this stage is a single-page bill stating that the “general statutes be amended to provide consumers and independent repair providers with the ability to repair consumer electronics.”
SB 122 in Illinois would cover electronic or appliance products worth at least $50 and less than $100 for three years after the last date a product model or type was manufactured, with the time frame rising to seven years for items worth $100 or more. It does not include a section on parts pairing.
In Oregon, Senate Joint Memorial 8 requests that the Federal Trade Commission and the National Institute of Standards and Technology create a repair score system for electronics that can be shown at the point of sale. The system would be voluntary for OEMs, the text notes, and should consider the availability of technical documents, the ease of disassembly, the availability and price of spare parts and the length of time software is supported by the OEM.
HB 2483 in Virginia, the Digital Right to Repair Act, would provide consumers access to diagnostics, tools, service documentation and firmware. It would require OEMs to provide tools to disable and reset electronic security locks or other security-related functions and would cover products sold or in use on or after Jan. 1, 2026.
In Washington, HB 1483 would apply to covered products first sold or used in the state on or after July 1, 2021. It would ban parts pairing for devices sold after Jan. 1, 2025.
In addition, HB 582 in Missouri would provide a broad right to repair “consumer products,” excluding motor vehicles, but the law does not specifically mention electronic devices.
Extended producer responsibility
Eleven states have introduced 15 EPR bills, mostly concerning batteries along with a few on solar panels and other appliances.
Hawaii is exploring adding lithium-ion batteries to its current program (SB 391 / HB 332), and Washington is looking to add EV batteries (SB 5045).
Missouri (SB 593), Nebraska (LB 390), New York (SB 2178 / A 1324) and Oregon (HB 2062) have bills in play to start battery EPR programs, and Hawaii is expanding its electronics recycling program to cover more products (SB 987 / HB 906 / SB 1298)
The bills introduced in Hawaii would explicitly allow manufacturers to coordinate activities related to the recycling of covered electronic devices. They would also require manufacturers to provide free collection service locations and collection events and add more devices to the program.
The program originally covered computers, computer printers, computer monitors and television, but the bills would add: fax machines, videocassette recorders, portable digital music players that have memory capability and are battery powered, digital video disc players and recorders, routers and modems designed for household use, and portable computers with a screen size greater than 4 inches measured diagonally.
Covered peripherals would include keyboards, mice, cords used with a covered electronic device or peripheral, power supplies and adapters, speakers used with a computer or television and television sound bars, and video game consoles.
Finally, New York (SB 1502 and SB 1346) and Washington (SB 5175) both have bills filed regarding solar panel EPR programs; Washington’s proposes to push out the start date of its previously passed program. New York has also introduced EPR for household appliances and refrigerants via S 1459 and A 2164.
A version of this story appeared in E-Scrap News on Jan. 23.
