Starting January 1, 2026, retailers of covered battery-embedded (CBE) products in California must charge consumers a CBE Waste Recycling Fee at point of purchase or cover the costs of the fee themselves. Per regulations finalized last week, the fee will be 1.5% (capped at $15) of the retail sales price of a CBE product. Proposed regulations that would clarify related requirements are still pending as of this writing.

The CBE Waste Recycling Fee is required under SB 1215, which we previously wrote about here. To review, CBE products are those that contain batteries that are “not designed to be easily removed from the product by the user of the product with no more than commonly used household tools.” These do not include products that incorporate video display devices measuring greater than four inches diagonally (such products are separately subject to California’s Covered Electronic Waste (CEW) Recycling Fees) or standalone batteries (which will be covered by future requirements under AB 2440, as we wrote about here). However, the scope of CBE products remains unclear since the proposed regulations add new definitions, including one for “commonly used household tools.” If finalized in their current form, these definitions could affect how broadly the fee applies.

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