Battery Collection Best Practices
Background
When batteries are discarded improperly, such as in household trash or curbside recycling, critical materials inside batteries are lost and cannot be recycled into new batteries. Batteries can also start fires throughout the municipal waste management system, causing air pollution issues in communities and threatening the safety of workers and first responders.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires EPA to develop battery collection best practices and battery labeling guidelines. Congress allocated $10 million and $15 million respectively to the Agency to complete these tasks by September 30, 2026.
Collection Best Practices
EPA developed a report to Congress on the best practices for collection of batteries to be recycled. This report identifies existing best practices, describes the current state of battery collection, and lays out EPA’s next steps.
EPA hosted a series of working sessions to inform the development of best practices for state, Tribal and local governments in collecting end-of-life batteries for recycling. As specified in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, best practices must:
- Be technically and economically feasible for state, Tribal and local governments.
- Be environmentally sound and safe for waste management workers.
- Optimize the value and use of material derived from the recycling of batteries.
EPA developed battery collection best practices that cover a wide array of small, medium (or mid-), and large format battery chemistries (lithium-ion, nickel-cadmium, etc.) and uses (consumer products, e-scooters, electric vehicles, industrial storage). This report also identifies best practices for communication and outreach, collection locations, transportation, measuring progress, as well as other important elements.
Access the report (pdf)(2.1 MB).
Development of the Collection Best Practices
Activities and Input Collected
In June and July 2022, to support development of battery collection best practices, EPA conducted outreach to learn about the current state of battery recycling efforts around the U.S. EPA hosted a series of virtual feedback sessions and issued a request for information to seek input on all battery chemistries (e.g., lithium-based and nickel-metal hydride) and all battery types (e.g., small format primary or single-use and rechargeable batteries; mid-format; large format vehicle batteries, including electric vehicles; and industrial batteries used in manufacturing, commercial businesses, and healthcare operations). More than 780 unique participants attended the feedback sessions, and 59 people and organizations submitted responses to the Request for Information.
Working Session Overview
The working sessions for developing battery collection best practices and voluntary labeling guidelines had distinct but related conversation tracks, organized by battery type, in 2024–2025. Each track included a series of working sessions. While participation varied between each track, some individuals or organizations may have contributed to more than one.