TRENTON, NJ – A bill in Trenton seeks to make it more challenging to get rid of the growing number of faulty and aging lithium-ion batteries
Under the bill, the batteries, which have been the cause of many accidental fires in recent years due to improper storage and excessive wear, could no longer be permitted to be put in landfills.
“No solid waste facility in this State shall knowingly accept for disposal an electric vehicle battery, or any module or cell thereof, or a truckload or roll-off container of solid waste containing an electric vehicle battery, or any module or cell thereof,” the bill reads. “The owner or operator of a solid waste facility may refuse to accept for disposal an electric vehicle battery, or any module or cell thereof, or any truckload or roll-off container of solid waste containing an electric vehicle battery, or any module or cell thereof.”
The bill would explicitly prohibit persons from disposing of electric vehicle batteries, and their subcomponents, as solid waste. The bill would also authorize solid waste collectors to refuse to collect a solid waste container containing an electric vehicle battery, and it would authorize solid waste disposal facilities to refuse to accept electric vehicle batteries or truckloads and roll-off containers containing an electric vehicle battery.
Instead, the manufacturer or service technicians where the batteries are sold or maintained would be responsible for disposal.
A retailer of electric vehicles or electric vehicle batteries, upon presentation at any time during business hours by a member of the public, shall accept a minimum of one electric vehicle battery derived from the person’s private use, at no charge. No distributor of electric vehicles or electric vehicle batteries shall refuse to accept an electric vehicle battery, collected from a member of the public pursuant to this section, from any retailer of the distributor’s products, or from any other retailer if the battery is of a type that is, or was, distributed by the distributor.