Jul 15 - Manufacturers must Help Recycle Used Batteries

Share The only two battery recyclers in the state wrote an op-ed in SF Chronicle in support of a household battery stewardship program, a program that will expand and create more jobs at their two facilities (Hayward and Anaheim) if SB 1100 passes.

In California, more than 500 million batteries are sold each year. Approximately 90 % of household alkaline batteries are illegally disposed of in landfills - roughly 30 million pounds a year of batteries containing zinc, steel and other nonrenewable metals. Once thrown in the trash, the batteries become a long-term liability if the landfills leak.

To properly manage disposal of these batteries, California taxpayers and the public through garbage rates pay up to $2,500 per ton - as compared to $30 to $110 per ton for regular solid waste.

SB 1100 would create a producer stewardship program where the manufacturers must fund and operate product stewardship programs to properly manage batteries at the end-of-life. The stewardship program approach has already been successfully implemented in Europe and Canadian provinces.

The editor asks the question at the bottom : Should manufacturers pay the costs of recycling batteries?
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