New Law Will Require Battery Manufacturers to Develop State Recycling Program
ATLANTA, (May 9, 2014) – Vermont lawmakers yesterday passed H. 695, the first single-use battery product stewardship law in the U.S.. Pending an expected approval by the Governor, Vermont will be the first state to require single-use battery manufacturers to develop a program for collecting and recycling batteries at their end of life. The program will go into effect on January 1, 2016.
While some municipal governments and private organizations in the U.S. are already voluntarily collecting and recycling single-use batteries, their efforts have been fragmented and costly. Municipalities in particular have had to carry the burden of collecting batteries without the funds to offset their costs.
To address this issue in Vermont, the bill, introduced by Representative Tony Klein (D-East Montpelier), requires manufacturers to finance collecting and recycling single-use batteries and encourages consumers to recycle through public education and outreach programs.
“While we’re proud to be first in the nation, diverting and recycling more batteries is what is truly important,” said Jennifer Holliday, Compliance Program and Product Stewardship Manager, Chittenden Solid Waste District and President, Vermont Product Stewardship Council. “Although the bill doesn’t address all of the issues that industry sought to resolve, it provides a great foundation for what is needed to achieve what we all wanted – a collection system to keep batteries out of the waste stream.”
“We applaud both the legislature’s efforts in enacting this legislation and the battery industry’s commitment to the environment by diverting single-use batteries from landfills,” said Carl Smith, CEO & president, Call2Recycle, Inc., North America’s first and largest battery product stewardship program. “We look forward to working with the battery industry in developing, submitting and operating a plan that ensures Vermont has the most successful battery collection and recycling program in North America.”
Operating in Vermont for the past 20 years, Call2Recycle has developed a network of over 100 collection sites and has collected close to 200,000 pounds of batteries in the state.
About Call2Recycle®
Founded in 1994, Call2Recycle—North America’s first and largest battery stewardship program—is a non-profit organization that collects and recycles batteries at no cost for municipalities, businesses and consumers. 2014 commemorates Call2Recycle’s 20th anniversary of product stewardship excellence. Since 1996, Call2Recycle has diverted more than 85 million pounds (39 million kilograms) of rechargeable batteries and cellphones from the solid waste stream and established over 34,000 collection sites throughout the U.S. and Canada. It is the first program of its kind to receive the Responsible Recycling Practices Standard (R2) certification. Learn more at call2recycle.org or 877-723-1297. Follow Call2Recycle at http://facebook.com/call2recycle or http://twitter.com/call2recycle.
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