Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership
The two closely-divided houses of the Minnesota legislature have plenty to disagree on this session, but one promising issue holds hope for a bipartisan deal: stopping widespread garbage fires caused by batteries.
The expansion of rechargeable technologies, ranging from cellphones to e-bikes to rechargeable vapes, has made lithium batteries omnipresent in U.S. households. Most of the time, these batteries are safe, but when they are charged or disposed of improperly, they create a serious fire hazard.
Lithium batteries are now the leading contributor to garbage fires in landfills, garbage trucks, and waste processing centers in the United States. These fires put sanitation workers at risk and drive up costs for local governments that operate landfills. Landfilling rechargeable batteries can also introduce toxic chemicals into the nearby soil and groundwater.
Ideally, all lithium batteries in Minnesota would be properly recycled. But while the Twin Cities Metro has various sites for dropping off e-waste, many Minnesotans have no free, nearby site to safely dispose of their electronics. It’s no wonder that local government budgets in rural areas are strained by increasing battery fires at landfills.
Fortunately, legislation to solve this problem – HF 1426 in the House and SF 1690 in the Senate – is moving forward in the Legislature.
A more targeted version of an earlier bill that broadly addressed e-waste, this bipartisan bill would create a battery stewardship program based on Extend Producer Responsibility, or “EPR.” This means that electronics producers would be required to fund a state program to ensure that rechargeable batteries – on which their products depend – would be disposed of safely. The program would provide free battery recycling sites in every corner of the state and fund education and outreach to make sure Minnesotans know about it.
Reducing fires isn’t the only benefit this program will bring. More recycling means economic benefits from the recovered materials and less demand for aggressive mining, sparing waters and habitat. Recycling also consumes less energy and has a lower climate impact than primary sector production of batteries from scratch.
Minnesota environmental groups (including MEP), recycling agencies, and counties have expressed support for the battery bill. Battery industry interests have stood in opposition to part or all of it, arguing against costs and requirements that they find burdensome. Fortunately, the bill has gotten favorable committee hearings in both the House and Senate, and has a solid chance of passing this session – a rarity in a divided legislature in a year when all 201 seats are on the ballot.
How you can help: Take two minutes to use our action system to contact your lawmakers and let them know that this bipartisan bill is worth their support. Let’s end the dumpster fires and make sure Minnesota’s batteries don’t go to waste.