A state Assemblyman wants to give New Yorkers a $5 incentive to return their rechargeable batteries to retailers as they are replaced.

Assemblyman Chris Eachus, D-Central Valley, proposes a program similar to the state’s bottle deposit program. Stores selling rechargeable batteries would still be required to recycle old rechargeable batteries, but create a $5 fee that customers would pay when buying the new battery and then receive back when they recycle the battery.

“There is already an incentive program for recycling lead acid batteries,” Eachus wrote in his legislative justification. “Retailers charge a $5 ‘NYS Return Incentive Payment’ unless a used battery is returned at the time of purchase (or within 30 days of purchase, in which case they must issue a refund). Retailers may keep any return incentive payment not refunded to the customer. As proven with the bottle deposit program and the lead acid battery recycling program, creating even a small incentive for consumers to recycle their rechargeable batteries can help lessen the amount of waste and chemicals that ends up in our environment.”

The incentive program would apply to any new rechargeable nickel-cadmium, sealed lead, lithium ion, nickel metal hydride battery, or any other dry cell battery capable of being recharged.

The state’s Rechargeable Battery Law was signed into law on Dec. 10, 2010, and makes it illegal for any person to throw rechargeable batteries in the trash. The law requires manufacturers of covered rechargeable batteries who sell in or into New York state to fund the collection and recycling of rechargeable batteries. Retailers that sell rechargeable batteries or rechargeable battery containing products must accept used rechargeable batteries from New York consumers.

The law does not cover: any of the above-mentioned batteries/packs weighing 25 pounds or more; batteries used as the principal power source for a vehicle, such as an automobile, boat, truck, tractor, golf cart or wheelchair; batteries for storage of electricity generated by an alternative power source, such as solar or wind-driven generators; batteries for backup that is an integral component of an electronic device; or any non-rechargeable, single-use batteries such as common alkaline batteries.

In 2022, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released an audit finding the state wasn’t doing enough to enforce the 2010 recycling law. Recycling in New York is managed by Call2Recycle (C2R), a non-profit program funded by the rechargeable battery and portable electronics industry, under a plan approved by the DEC in 2013. Call2Recycle provides collection bins, pays for shipping and sorting and selects recycling facilities, so there are no public costs or public collection sites. The non-profit also creates, and submits to the DEC, an annual report on the recycling efforts that battery manufacturers are required to provide under the law.

Between 2017 and 2020, Call2Recycle reported collecting 996,149 pounds of rechargeable batteries – mostly nickel-cadmium, followed by sealed lead, lithium-ion, and nickel metal hydride. DiNapoli’s audit found that, outside of C2R’s efforts, the DEC has no independent awareness of whether rechargeable batteries are being recycled in New York as the law requires or how much is being recycled. The agency also does little with the annual reports that Call2Recycle submits on behalf of manufacturers.

Call2Recycle’s 2020 report listed 189 manufacturers in its recycling program that sell rechargeable batteries in the state. In 2014, it gave DEC a list of 75 manufacturers that were not in the program and might not have been complying with the law. DEC sent letters that resulted in 25 joining the program, but has taken no action since then to check on the remaining 50 manufacturers. In 2021, C2R sent DEC a list of the top 10 manufacturers that are not in its recycling program, but the agency has not taken any action on it. Auditors were able to reach seven of the manufacturers who each stated they had no recycling program. Two of them are large companies with more than 14,000 employees and $5 billion in revenue.

As of September 2021, there were 911 retail locations in C2R’s program. Auditors checked on 30 of them and found five did not know they were enrolled in the program to collect and recycle rechargeable batteries and three did not have a collection bin. There are at least 1,248 more retailers that may be subject to the law but are not in the program or have not implemented another means for collecting and recycling batteries. Auditors checked with 72 of them and found a large majority (69%) did not have collection bins for consumers.

DiNapoli’s audit recommended that DEC monitor, enforce and promote the recycling law and that it submit the biennial reports called for in the law.

“We use devices with rechargeable batteries every day, but they pose serious environmental risks if they’re not properly recycled,” DiNapoli said. “Unfortunately, the agency responsible for making sure they get recycled has little knowledge of whether it’s actually happening or whether they’re going out with the trash where they put New York’s environment, public health and safety at risk. DEC has to start monitoring compliance with the law, and enforcing it, or this hazard will only get worse as use of rechargeable batteries increases.”