The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery is working through rulemaking on SB 1215, which adds items with embedded batteries to the state’s existing e-scrap recycling program.
The public is invited to provide feedback on the regulations during the informal comment period, which ends Oct. 2.
SB 1215, enacted in 2022, will require consumers to pay a recycling fee upon the purchase of certain new or refurbished products starting Jan. 1, 2026. It also will expand the state’s decades-old program to include battery-embedded products, excluding medical devices, energy storage systems and electronic nicotine delivery systems, such as e-cigarettes and vapes.
During two workshops in August and September, CalRecycle staff presented proposed details of the law, including a stipulation that by Jan. 1, 2026, manufacturers must label battery-embedded products with either the manufacturer name or brand label, and battery chemistry information must be provided on either the label or the manufacturer’s website.
In addition, by July 1, 2025, manufacturers of products that are subject to the recycling fee must send a notice with the brand and model number of the devices to CalRecycle and to retailers selling those products. Devices that are exempt also require a notice.
After July 1, 2027, battery-embedded product manufacturers will also be required to submit an annual report to CalRecycle.
On CalRecycle’s side, the agency must adopt regulations, taking effect Jan. 1, 2025, to establish a process for approved recyclers to submit payment claims for battery-embedded products. That includes modernizing the current Covered Electronic Waste Recycling Program by requiring electronic submission claims, adding application requirements for collectors and recyclers and specifying an approved cancellation method for dismantling battery-embedded products.
CalRecycle will start accepting applications on Sept. 1, 2025, from prospective recyclers that are not currently approved participants in the Covered Electronic Waste Recycling Program and are “seeking approval to submit only battery embedded products payment claims to CalRecycle,” the presentation noted.
