Vermont Nears First U.S. Single-Use Battery Recycling LawVermont Nears First U.S. Single-Use Battery Recycling Law

Vermont’s House has passed a single-use battery producer responsibility recycling bill, that if signed by the governor will become the first such law in the United States.

The bill, H 695, requires all single-use household battery manufacturers that produce or sell the product in Vermont to develop and manage a statewide used battery collection program by 2016, according to a news release from the Boston-based Product Stewardship Institute. The bill now goes to Gov. Peter Shumlin.

The proposed legislation covers primary batteries of multiple chemistries (e.g., alkaline, zinc carbon, lithium primary silver oxide, and zinc air). Vermont already has a voluntary collection program for rechargeable batteries.

If the bill is signed into law, battery makers must submit a plan to the state on battery collection by July 2015.

Estimates peg battery sales in Vermont at more than 10 million annually, with few recycling programs available to consumers.

"This will keep millions of batteries out of the landfill and save resources without costing local government thousands of dollars a year to recycle them," said Jen Holliday, product stewardship program manager for the Chittenden Solid Waste District and chairman of the Vermont Product Stewardship Council.