Colorado’s recycling efforts grow, but battery safety concerns continue to rise

SB26-003 gives batteries a future

An old electric vehicle battery may still have value after it leaves a vehicle. Colorado’s SB26-003, officially called End-of-Life Management of Electric Vehicle Batteries, expands the state’s Battery Stewardship Act to create rules for collecting, transporting, processing, and recycling propulsion batteries.

The law creates responsibilities for battery providers and establishes a structured approach for managing EV batteries after their first use. Future implementation will show how effectively the program handles collection, reporting, reuse, and recycling across Colorado’s growing electric vehicle market.

SB26-003 sets a clear timeline

Colorado’s SB26-003 creates a phased system for managing end-of-life electric vehicle batteries instead of starting all requirements immediately. The law establishes registration, reporting, and program responsibilities that allow regulators and companies to prepare for future battery management needs.

The timeline gives battery providers time to build systems for collection, transportation, processing, and recycling. These steps are designed to create a more organized process as more EV batteries eventually reach the end of their first vehicle use.

SB26-003 puts producers in charge

Colorado’s SB26-003 expands producer responsibility by requiring battery providers to help manage covered propulsion batteries after they are no longer used in vehicles. The program focuses on approved pathways such as reuse, repurposing, remanufacturing, and recycling.

The law also creates reporting requirements to track how batteries are collected and managed. By placing more responsibility on providers, Colorado aims to create a clearer system for handling EV batteries throughout their entire lifecycle.

Why producer responsibility matters?

Extended producer responsibility, often called EPR, places more responsibility on companies that introduce products into the market. The approach can help create clearer systems for collecting, managing, and processing products after they reach the end of their useful life.

For EV batteries, producer responsibility can encourage better tracking and planning from manufacturers and suppliers. A structured system may help improve recycling networks, support material recovery, and reduce uncertainty for consumers, repair businesses, and recycling facilities.

Reuse can extend battery life

Recycling is not always the best first step for an electric vehicle battery. A used pack may still perform useful work in a building, solar project, or backup power system after it no longer meets the demands of daily driving.

Colorado’s law favors reuse, remanufacturing, or repurposing before final recycling. That approach can preserve more value, delay energy-intensive processing, and stretch useful battery life, as long as testing, transportation, installation, and safety standards remain carefully strong throughout the second-use process.

Old batteries contain valuable materials

Electric vehicle batteries contain valuable materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, and graphite. Recovering these materials through recycling can help return important resources to supply chains and reduce dependence on some newly mined materials.

The environmental benefits of recycling depend on several factors, including recovery methods, transportation, energy sources, and facility operations. Better recycling systems can support a more circular battery industry by keeping useful materials in circulation for future manufacturing.

Little-known fact: A 2025 study published in Nature Communications found that producing battery materials from recycled lithium-ion batteries can reduce environmental impacts compared with traditional mining.

Nevada leads the recycling push

Northern Nevada has become an important location for battery recycling development in the United States. Companies including Redwood Materials operate large recycling facilities in the region focused on recovering materials from batteries and manufacturing waste.

The growth of battery recycling facilities brings new opportunities for material recovery and supply-chain development. It also highlights the importance of responsible operations, including environmental monitoring, worker safety, and transparent reporting as the industry expands.

Every recycling method has tradeoffs

Lithium-ion batteries can be recycled through several methods, each using different levels of heat, chemicals, water, and energy. Common approaches include high-temperature processing, chemical leaching, direct recycling, and mechanical steps that create a mineral-rich material often called black mass.

Heat-based systems may require strong air pollution controls, while chemical systems can produce wastewater that needs careful treatment. Fair comparisons require public data on recovery rates, emissions, water use, energy sources, worker conditions, transportation, and the handling of leftover waste.

Communities need clearer information

As battery recycling facilities expand, communities are seeking more information about environmental performance, safety practices, and facility operations. Public access to reliable data can help residents better understand how recycling sites operate and how risks are managed.

Clear reporting on topics such as emissions, waste handling, and recovery performance can support informed discussions between companies, regulators, and local communities. Transparency will become increasingly important as battery recycling grows across the country.

Little-known fact: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states that lithium-ion battery recycling can help recover valuable critical minerals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese.

Federal reporting leaves gaps

Federal right-to-know programs collect useful chemical information, but they do not cover every facility, substance, or operational detail. Some reporting rules apply only when companies meet certain industry, employee, chemical, and quantity thresholds, leaving important parts of operations unseen today.

States could close those gaps by requiring standardized reports on PFAS, hazardous waste, water use, energy demand, recovery rates, accidents, enforcement actions, and pollution controls. Searchable public records would make complex facility performance easier for residents and regulators to follow.

Exide offers a serious warning

California’s former Exide lead-acid battery recycling plant offers a warning, even though lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries use different chemistries and methods. The Vernon facility closed in 2015 after years of regulatory problems and contamination concerns affecting surrounding communities and properties.

The comparison does not mean modern lithium-ion plants will repeat that history. It shows why early monitoring, enforceable limits, transparent records, and quick action matter before pollution grows into a long, expensive cleanup that damages public trust and nearby neighborhoods.

California’s SB 615 moves forward

California is considering SB 615, a proposal focused on vehicle traction batteries and end-of-life responsibility. The bill favors reuse, repair, repurposing, or remanufacturing before recycling and would assign collection and funding duties across parts of the battery supply chain statewide.

As of August 6, 2026, the proposal was active in the Assembly process and had not become law. Its wording could still change, so readers should separate the current bill from California’s earlier 2024 version, which Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed.

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Transparency is the next big step

Colorado’s SB26-003 creates a framework for managing electric vehicle batteries after their first use by establishing responsibilities for collection, reporting, and recycling. The law represents an early step toward building a stronger battery lifecycle system.

The next challenge will be ensuring effective implementation through clear data, strong oversight, and responsible operations. As EV adoption increases, transparent recycling programs will help communities, companies, and policymakers understand how batteries are managed from production to final recovery.

Curious about what caused the sudden change? Read how Colorado visitors reacted after the reservoir dramatically shrank.

Do you think battery recycling laws go far enough to protect workers and communities? Share your thoughts in the comments.

This slideshow was made with AI assistance and human editing.

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