The ASTSWMO Lithium Battery Workgroup, in collaboration with the Hazardous Waste and Materials Management Subcommittees, has published a position paper which addresses ASTSWMO members’ priorities for future EPA rulemaking on lithium battery requirements under the Universal Waste Regulations. It builds upon the Workgroup and Subcommittees’ earlier input, including a joint early comment letter to EPA in 2024 and a 2025 survey of ASTSWMO’s membership that identified the major challenges members face with lithium batteries. The paper recommends how new EPA rulemaking could resolve issues highlighted by States.
On August 5, 2024, ASTSWMO’s Hazardous Waste Subcommittee and Lithium Battery Workgroup provided a joint early comment letter to EPA regarding the development of a forthcoming proposed universal waste rule for solar panels and lithium batteries.
The Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement (CME) Task Force within the ASTSWMO Hazardous Waste Subcommittee and the Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Task Force within the ASTSWMO Materials Management Subcommittee collaborated to produce a series of three fact sheets on emerging wastes from renewable energy sources: lithium-ion batteries with a focus on electric vehicle batteries; photovoltaic modules; and wind turbine blades. The fact sheets are intended to be living documents to be periodically updated with new information.
