Kansas House Bill HB2567

Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/27/26
• Refer: 1/27/26

Caption

Enacting the safe battery collection and recycling stewardship act and prohibiting the sale of covered batteries or battery-containing products unless the producer is part of a battery stewardship organization with an approved plan.

Summary

HB 2567 creates the “Safe Battery Collection and Recycling Act” and establishes a producer responsibility framework for portable and medium-format batteries sold in Kansas. Beginning in 2028, producers and retailers could not sell covered batteries or battery-containing products unless the producer participates in a battery stewardship organization with a department-approved plan. Those plans must be submitted to the Department of Health and Environment, cover all brands sold by participating producers, set collection and recycling performance goals, provide consumer education and safety training, and ensure batteries can be collected at no cost through convenient statewide collection sites and events. The bill also sets product marking requirements so batteries can be identified and sorted by chemistry, and it prohibits disposal of covered batteries in household trash, landfills, incinerators, or mixed recycling streams. Battery stewardship organizations would be responsible for funding the program, reimbursing local governments for collection-site costs, reporting annually on finances and collection results, and paying department fees. The department would publish approved plans and reports online, subject to protection for proprietary information, and would be authorized to adopt rules to administer the program.

Impact

The bill would add a new chapter of battery stewardship requirements to Kansas law and amend K.S.A. 65-3427 to cap the Department of Health and Environment at two full-time-equivalent positions for administering and enforcing the act. It creates a battery stewardship fund, civil penalties, felony liability for knowingly false material statements, liability protections for compliant participants, and a mechanism for stewardship organizations to recover costs from noncompliant producers or other underperforming stewardship organizations. It also imposes new duties on retailers, solid waste facilities, collectors, and producers regarding sale restrictions, labeling, collection, disposal, and reporting.

Sentiment

The bill text reflects a strongly supportive policy rationale for battery recycling, fire prevention, and reducing toxic waste, and the available context shows it was requested on behalf of the National Waste & Recycling Association. No committee transcript or vote record was provided, so there is no recorded floor or committee sentiment to summarize beyond the bill’s affirmative framing of battery stewardship as a public-interest measure. Overall, the measure appears designed as a comprehensive environmental and waste-management program rather than a narrowly targeted regulatory change.

Contention

The main points of potential contention are the compliance costs and administrative burdens placed on producers, retailers, and battery stewardship organizations, including mandatory funding of collection systems, annual fees, reporting obligations, and reimbursement to local governments. Another likely issue is the sales prohibition for nonparticipating producers, which could be viewed as a significant market restriction, along with the bill’s penalties and civil-action provisions against noncompliant producers. There may also be debate over the limited staffing cap for the department, the scope of covered batteries and exclusions, and whether the program should later expand to additional products or battery types.