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SF 2477IOWASession 2025-2026State Billpassed chamber
Passed

Iowa Senate Bill 2477 Establishes Battery Stewardship Programs and Recycling Requirements

Original title: A bill for an act providing for the implementation of battery stewardship plans, making appropriations, and providing penalties.(Formerly SF 545 , SSB 1196 .)

Last action · April 16, 2026: Subcommittee recommends passage.

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law

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What This Bill Would Do

This bill requires producers of portable and medium-format batteries to implement department-approved battery stewardship plans starting January 1, 2028, and bans residents from disposing of covered batteries in landfills or municipal waste. Producers must fund collection networks, meet s of 60% for rechargeable batteries and 70% for non-rechargeable batteries, and pay a $100,000 annual fee to the Department of Natural Resources.

Why it matters

Residents will lose the ability to throw common household batteries in the regular trash or curbside recycling bins starting in 2028, requiring them to use designated drop-off sites instead, while local governments may seek reimbursement for collection site costs.

Background
  • Producer responsibility organizations are increasingly utilized across US states to manage hard-to-recycle items like electronics and batteries by shifting end-of-life management costs from municipalities to manufacturers. context

Who It Would Affect

Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

battery producers

Battery producers must submit stewardship plans, pay annual fees, fund collection and recycling systems, and ensure their products are marked with identifying information.

Directly affected

retailers

Retailers are prohibited from selling covered batteries or battery-containing products unless the producer operates under an approved department plan and the batteries are properly marked.

Directly affected

local governmental units

Local governmental units operating facilities that serve as collection sites are eligible for reimbursement for demonstrable costs incurred.

Directly affected

state residents

Residents must drop off covered batteries at designated collection sites starting in 2028 and are prohibited from throwing them in household waste or recycling bins.

Key Facts

  • Beginning January 1, 2028, selling or distributing covered batteries or battery-containing products is prohibited unless the producer operates under a department-approved stewardship plan.
  • Beginning January 1, 2028, residents may only dispose of covered batteries by delivering them to approved collection sites or events, and are prohibited from placing them in landfills, municipal waste, or incinerators.
  • Battery stewardship organizations must pay a fee of $100,000 to the department upon plan approval or by January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, deposited into a newly created battery stewardship account.
  • Producers must submit battery stewardship plans by January 1, 2027, with a term of no more than five years.
Show all 11 facts
  • Target recycling efficiency rates are set at least at 60 percent for rechargeable batteries and 70 percent for batteries that are not capable of being recharged.
  • By December 31, 2028, organizations must provide permanent collection at regional collection centers and ensure at least one permanent collection site within a 15-mile radius for 95 percent of state residents regarding portable batteries.
  • For medium format batteries, organizations must provide at least 10 reasonably dispersed permanent collection sites and collection events at least once every three years in counties without a permanent site by December 31, 2028.
  • Producers, retailers, and stewardship organizations are prohibited from charging point-of-sale fees to consumers to cover plan implementation costs.
  • Violations of the section, other than individual disposal rules, may incur forfeitures of up to $10,000 for each violation.
  • A person who knowingly makes a false material statement to the department is guilty of a class 'D' felony.
  • The Department of Natural Resources must submit a report to the general assembly no later than May 30, 2028, evaluating whether other products or batteries should be covered at a later date.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I throw household batteries in the trash starting in 2028?
No. Beginning January 1, 2028, individuals may only dispose of covered batteries by delivering them to a designated collection site or event, unless managed as hazardous waste.
Will retailers be allowed to add a recycling fee at the checkout counter?
No. Producers, retailers, and s are expressly prohibited from charging point-of-sale fees to consumers to cover plan implementation costs.
Who pays for the collection and recycling program?
s and participating producers are responsible for all costs associated with implementing the plan, including collection, transportation, processing, education, and administrative fees.

What else do you want to know?

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Where This Stands

Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.

Procedural history

26 actions
  1. Apr 16, 2026Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee recommends passage.
  2. Apr 14, 2026Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee recommends passage.
  3. Apr 14, 2026Senate
    Subcommittee Meeting: 04/16/2026 8:30AM Senate Lounge.
  4. Apr 14, 2026Senate
    Subcommittee reassigned: Green, Dickey, and Winckler. S.J. 788 .
  5. Apr 13, 2026Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee Meeting: [].
  6. Apr 13, 2026Senate
    Subcommittee: Reichman, Green, and Winckler. S.J. 774 .
Show 20 earlier actions
  1. Apr 8, 2026House
    Subcommittee: Wood, Cooling and Mommsen. H.J. 864 .
  2. Apr 6, 2026SenateCommittee
    Referred to Ways and Means. S.J. 714 .
  3. Apr 3, 2026Iowa Legislature
    Fiscal note .
  4. Apr 2, 2026Senate
    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 2477 . S.J. 712 .
  5. Apr 2, 2026Iowa Legislature
    * * * * * END OF 2025 ACTIONS * * * * *
  6. Apr 2, 2026Senate
    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 712 .
  7. Apr 2, 2026SenateIntroduced
    Introduced, placed on Appropriations calendar. S.J. 711 .
  8. Dec 31, 2025Iowa Legislature
    * * * * * END OF 2025 ACTIONS * * * * *
  9. Mar 12, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
  10. Mar 11, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee Meeting: 03/12/2025 8:30AM Room 217 Conference Room.
  11. Mar 11, 2025Senate
    Subcommittee: Shipley, Staed, and Zumbach. S.J. 492 .
  12. Mar 10, 2025SenateCommittee
    Referred to Appropriations. S.J. 443 .
  13. Mar 6, 2025Senate
    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 438 .
  14. Mar 6, 2025SenateIntroduced
    Introduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 430 .
  15. Mar 5, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 2477 .
  16. Mar 5, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
  17. Mar 4, 2025HouseIntroduced
    Introduced, referred to Appropriations. H.J. 491 .
  18. Mar 4, 2025Senate
    Subcommittee Meeting: 03/05/2025 9:30AM Senate Lounge.
  19. Mar 3, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee: Rozenboom, De Witt, and Staed.
  20. Mar 3, 2025Iowa LegislatureIntroduced
    Introduced, referred to Natural Resources and Environment.

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

View official text →

Lobbying Activity

No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift95% confidence

Transition to Producer Responsibility

The legislation repeals old sections and shifts full financial and operational responsibility for household and medium-format battery recycling from local governments to manufacturers.

Department of Natural Resources

Connected Entities

Washington, Department of Natural Resources, General Assembly and 3 more
locationWashington“State whose executive branch studies and assessments are reviewed by the departm”Map →
OrganizationDepartment of Natural Resources“State agency responsible for reviewing stewardship plans, collecting fees, and m”Map →
OrganizationGeneral Assembly“Legislative body receiving reports and reviewing annual fee amounts every five y”Map →
locationVermont“State whose executive branch studies and assessments are reviewed by the departm”Map →
locationIllinois“State whose executive branch studies and assessments are reviewed by the departm”Map →
PersonAttorney General“Authorized to bring an action to enjoin any person from violating the provisions”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.legis.iowa.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance85
    How much this matters to a regular citizen
  • Controversy45
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment5
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz40
    Current news / social attention level

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