I believe this is the wrong approach. The law is mostly unenforceable, and I imagine it won't lead to a significant reduction in disposed rechargeable batteries as most people won't encounter the law on a regular basis. A better approach would be to do something similar to what is done with recycled goods; apply a tax to the product when it is first purchased and refund that tax if the product is returned at an appropriate facility.

If the fee goes to pay for say a monthly home pickup of hazardous waste, I'm all for this.

Most people don't know about what they're throwing away, and often don't care - they just want it gone. I don't blame them - the right way to get people to do something is to make it easy to do.

I'm surprised. For as long as I can remember, disposing of any battery was only allowed in special places/bins. Batteries never belonged into the trash for me.

And .. quote:

"The act does not cover batteries or battery packs weighing 24 pounds or more; batteries used as the principal power source for cars, boats, trucks, tractors, golf carts, wheelchairs or other vehicles; batteries used to store electricity from solar or wind-driven generators; or batteries that provide backup power an an essential part of an electronic device."

Doesn't this basically make this one giant mess, defeating the good intention? So any normal battery, any rechargeable battery that you loaded from a solar panel, the real messy big ones etc. - are still unrestricted? Hilarious.

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Reading the text of the law[1], I'm surprised battery manufacturers haven't already filed an interstate commerce lawsuit.

States can usually place all the restrictions and requirements they want on retailers and residents, but trying to force out-of-state manufacturers to perform in-state acts like this is sticky.

[1]http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/batterylaw...