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All used up and no place to go
Encourage responsible handling of household batteries
Because they contain toxic substances like cadmium and lead, household batteries are banned from solid waste landfills in California. That’s good news for the environment. However, it can be difficult for consumers to find a place to recycle used batteries. Senate Bill 1100 (Corbett) will require battery manufacturers to create and institute stewardship plans to deal with the end of life for their products.
More than 500 million batteries are sold each year in California and that number is expected to rise. While current law requires retailers to take back rechargeable batteries, non-rechargeable batteries account for 80 percent of batteries sold in California. Unsurprisingly, estimates show that only one out of every 200 used batteries is properly recycled through household hazardous waste programs.
To manage this toxic battery waste, local governments and taxpayers pay up to $2,700 per ton, amounting to tens of millions of dollars each year.
Battery manufacturers have no incentive to be concerned about how much it costs taxpayers to properly and safely dispose of their products. Stewardship, however, ensures that that cost is included in the product price and not passed on to general taxpayers or garbage ratepayers.
Solution: Battery Stewardship
SB 1100 will require battery manufacturers to design, fund and operate a stewardship program to properly manage batteries in order to sell their products in California. SB 1100 will also require battery manufacturers to meet collection goals each year and report data to the Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery who will oversee the implementation of each manufacturer’s stewardship plan.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs work. California already has an EPR program to manage mercury thermostats, and both Europe and Canada have successful EPR programs for household batteries.
EPR requires manufacturers to create their own product stewardship plans. The plans give flexibility to producers and create incentives for them to design safer, more environmentally friendly products. At the same time, they harmonize California’s recycling efforts with other national and international programs and make recycling more convenient for consumers.
Besides providing these crucial public health and environmental protections, SB 1100 also benefits California’s economy. It will create green jobs in the recycling and collection of batteries, and local governments and taxpayers will no longer have to foot the bill to manage toxic battery waste.
What You Can Do
SB 1100 will help protect our environment and health while saving taxpayer money. It has passed the State Senate and is now being heard in the Assembly. Please call or write your Assemblymember, urging her or him to vote “yes” for SB 1100 to ensure that batteries are disposed of responsibly.
Your Assemblymember
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-20_ _
(Fill in the last two digits of the phone numbers with your Assembly or Senate district number.)
