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SF 5174

Safe Battery Collection and Recycling Stewardship Act

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Nick Frentz

Minnesota would require producers to finance and run a statewide battery take-back system, ensuring free, convenient collection and environmentally responsible recycling.

Referred to Environment, Climate, and Legacy
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Bill Summary · SF 5174

Summary: Safe Battery Collection and Recycling Stewardship Act (SF 5174, 2025-2026, Minnesota)

This bill proposes a comprehensive framework to regulate and finance the collection, recycling, and end-of-life management of covered batteries and battery-containing products, alongside a reform of e-waste governance. It establishes a statewide stewardship system, sets targets and site requirements, creates an advisory task force, and sets penalties and compliance mechanisms. The act would replace or supplant certain existing statutes (repealing specified sections of 2024 law) and introduces new definitions and procedures.

1) Purpose and Intent

  • Create a statewide, producer-financed stewardship system for the collection, transport, and environmentally sound processing of all covered batteries and battery-containing products sold or distributed in Minnesota.
  • Ensure convenient, statewide access to battery recycling, with clear responsibilities for producers, retailers, and collection sites.
  • Improve environmental outcomes by setting performance goals, transparency standards, and accountability measures.
  • Extend similar reform to e-waste management through a separate but coordinated set of provisions (Article 2).

2) Key Provisions and Changes

A. Definitions and Scope (Article 1)

  • Introduces standardized terms for battery stewardship, including:
    • Battery-containing product, covered battery, rechargeable/primary/medium-format/portable batteries.
    • Batterystewardshiporganization: producers or groups implementing stewardship plans.
    • Stewardship program, stewardship plan, and recycling/collection concepts.
  • Excludes certain batteries (e.g., within medical devices, large lead-acid batteries over 11 pounds, batteries embedded in motor vehicles, etc.).

B. Participation and Requirements for Producers (Articles 1 & 3)

  • Beginning January 1, 2028, producers may not sell, offer for sale, or distribute covered batteries or battery-containing products in Minnesota unless they participate in a state-approved stewardship program.
  • Defines the division of producer responsibilities for batteries and battery-containing products, including brand ownership and import scenarios.
  • Requires producers to participate in a stewardship program or qualify through a group/clearinghouse arrangement.

C. Stewardship Plans and Approval (Articles 1 & 4)

  • Each stewardship organization must submit a plan detailing:
    • Participating producers and brands.
    • Logistics for collection, transport, processing, and environmentally sound management.
    • Criteria for collection-site eligibility and coordination with other plans.
  • The Commissioner (likely the Pollution Control Agency) must review and approve, disapprove, or condition plans within 120 days (subject to timelines for disapproval/revision).
  • Plans may require amendments under specified conditions; public comment is required for drafts and amendments (30-day public review).

D. Performance Goals and Funding (Articles 5–8)

  • Each stewardship plan must include annual performance goals:
    • Quantities of batteries collected (based on prior sale data).
    • Public awareness targets.
    • Recycling efficiency targets: at least 60% for rechargeable and 70% for primary batteries.
  • Funding: plans must be fully funded to cover collection, transport, processing, education, administration, and end-of-life management; costs must be shared with local government facilities involved as collection sites.
  • Prohibition on point-of-sale or collection fees to cover program costs.

E. Collection and Management Requirements (Article 7)

  • Statewide collection opportunities for all covered batteries on a free, continuous, convenient basis.
  • portable batteries: within 2 years, require at least one permanent site per 30,000 residents and coverage for 95% of residents within 15 miles.
  • medium-format batteries: within 2 years, require at least 10 permanent collection sites initially, with expansion to one site per county (200,000+ population) after the initial period, plus devices to collect batteries at least every three years in counties without permanent sites.
  • Collection-site requirements: containers, signage, safety procedures, and trained staff; collection site compliance with regulations and an operations manual.
  • Damaged/defective batteries: mandatory collection events periodically; reimbursement possibilities from battery producers for recalls.
  • Use of existing services and facilities (retailers, municipalities, waste facilities) as collection sites or events, with coordination among stewardship programs.

F. Education, Outreach, and Public Information (Article 8)

  • Stewardship programs must develop and maintain a program website, advertise on social media, provide promotional materials, and supply education materials to sites and retailers.
  • Safety information and training materials must be provided to collection sites, including spill/fire protocols and damaged battery handling.

G. Reporting, Audits, and Oversight (Article 9)

  • Annual reporting to the Commissioner by June 1, starting 2028, including:
    • Financial statements and cost analyses.
    • Weights by battery chemistry collected; recycling efficiency calculations.
    • Details on final disposition facilities and processing, and recalled battery handling.
    • Site lists, collection weights by site, and education/outreach activities.
    • Independent assessment after five years of program operation to evaluate effectiveness and cost-effectiveness relative to other jurisdictions.
  • Facilities used must disclose domestic or international status and environmental compliance history.

H. Fees and Agency Roles (Article 10)

  • Sets up fees for plan review, amendments, and annual ongoing agency costs, with annual appropriations to support program administration.
  • The agency maintains a website listing participating manufacturers/brands, plans, and compliance statuses.
  • Technical assistance provided to producers and retailers.

I. Penalties and Enforcement (Article 11)

  • Civil penalties of $2,500 per violation for noncompliance, with higher penalties for failure to pay required fees.
  • No penalties for improper disposal by individuals in noncommercial residential settings.

J. E-Waste Framework (Article 2)

  • Introduces Minnesota-specific e-waste definitions and a parallel framework for manufacturer e-waste programs, including:
    • Manufacturer e-waste program operator requirements, plan contents, and annual reporting.
    • Registration and annual fees by participating manufacturers.
    • Collection-site adequacy standards (miles, county coverage, population-based site requirements).
    • Antitrust and anti-competitive conduct provisions to enable coordinated planning among manufacturers in a supervised context.
    • Compliance mechanisms for state agencies and opportunities for independent e-waste programs outside manufacturer programs.

K. Advisory Task Force (Article 2, Sec. 9)

  • Establishes an Electronics Recycling Advisory Task Force within the Pollution Control Agency to study additional products for inclusion and to advise on potential program expansions.
  • Task force membership includes local government reps, recyclers, manufacturers, and trade associations; term limits and biannual reporting are specified.

L. Repeals and Effective Dates

  • Repeals several sections of the 2024 statute related to previous battery-related provisions (specific sections cited in the bill).
  • New act provisions effective at various dates, with battery disposal and collection standards effective January 1, 2028.

3) Who and What Is Affected

  • Producers and brands that sell covered batteries or battery-containing products in Minnesota.
  • Retailers selling such batteries or products (must verify stewardship participation and markings).
  • Battery stewardship organizations and manufacturers’ e-waste program operators.
  • Local governments and solid waste/recycling facilities serving as collection sites.
  • Consumers and households, who gain expanded, convenient take-back options.
  • Collection sites, transporters, processors, and recyclers involved in end-of-life management.
  • State agencies (Pollution Control Agency and Department of Administration) and the Minnesota legislature for reporting and oversight.

4) Procedural and Timeline Highlights

  • Initial year for most consumer-facing changes: 2028 for collection requirements, labeling, and retailer obligations.
  • Portable and medium-format battery collection site requirements must be established within specified 2-year or initial plan periods after plan approval.
  • Annual reporting starts June 1, 2028; a five-year independent assessment is required.
  • Manufacturer registration and plan submittals begin by 2027, with ongoing annual reporting and market-share calculations.
  • Advisory Task Force convenes and reports beginning in 2029 and every two years thereafter.

This act represents a sweeping overhaul of Minnesota’s battery and e-waste management regime, emphasizing producer responsibility, comprehensive collection infrastructure, transparency, and public reporting, with explicit timelines and enforcement mechanisms.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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