California’s e-scrap recycling program will expand after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two battery-related bills into law.
AB 2440 and SB 1215 set up an extended producer responsibility program for loose batteries and added battery-embedded products to the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003.
Newsom signed the bills Sept. 16 as part of a package of climate-related bills.
“This month has been a wake-up call for all of us that later is too late to act on climate change. California isn’t waiting any more,” Newsom said in the press release. “Together with the Legislature, California is taking the most aggressive action on climate our nation has ever seen.”
Under SB 1215, consumers will be required to pay an electronic waste recycling fee upon the purchase of certain new or refurbished products starting Jan. 1, 2026. A covered battery-embedded product is one containing a battery “that is not intended to be easily removed from the product by the consumer with no more than commonly used household tools,” the bill’s text states, excluding medical devices, energy storage systems and electronic nicotine delivery systems.
Battery-embedded products join a long list as part of the oldest regulated e-scrap recycling program in the U.S., including CRT TVs and monitors, LCD TVs and laptops, plasma TVs (excluding plasma projection TVs), OLED display devices, LCD smart displays, LCD tablets and portable DVD players.
The bill was co-sponsored by California Product Stewardship Council, RethinkWaste and Californians Against Waste (CAW).
Under AB 2440, producers can either set up collection programs individually or through a stewardship organization, according to the bill’s text, and will be responsible for fully funding training, collection and disposal.
Program operators will also have to achieve a minimum recycling efficiency rate of 60% for rechargeable batteries and 70% for primary batteries by Jan. 1, 2027.
The bill was also co-sponsored by California Product Stewardship Council, RethinkWaste and CAW.
Several other recycling-related bills still await Newsom’s signature.
