Oregon Bans Trash Disposal of Batteries, Creates Statewide Recycling Program

Short Mountain Landfill recorded 56 battery-related fires in 2025. Metro's two Portland-area transfer stations logged 61 fires the same year, 58 of them sparked by batteries mixed into ordinary garbage loads. Those numbers, repeated in legislative hearings and advocacy meetings, became the statistical backbone of House Bill 4144, which the Oregon Legislature passed to ban battery disposal in the trash and require manufacturers to fund and run a statewide recycling program launching in 2029.

Lane County and Metro co-led the push to develop the legislation, working alongside Representative Emerson Levy and the Association of Oregon Recyclers and Oregon Refuse & Recycling Association. Several environmental organizations and other local governments added their support.

"It has been refreshing to work with so many partners who hold the same values around safety and responsibility when it comes to battery disposal," said Angie Marzano, Lane County's Waste Reduction Manager. "This legislation is poised to create a system that safeguards people who work in the solid waste industry, customers, and the environment from the dangers posed by improper battery disposal."

Levy, a Democrat representing Central Oregon, framed the bill in terms of both worker danger and public cost. "This bill addresses a growing public safety issue caused by lithium batteries entering our waste system," he said. "These batteries are ending up in garbage trucks, transfer stations and landfills, sparking fires that not only endanger workers and the environment, but also cost taxpayers at least $10,000 per incident." Levy also noted that Deschutes County recorded 54 fires linked to battery disposal in the past year, and that some incidents have jeopardized the operations of entire disposal facilities.

Over the past decade, Oregon has seen a sharp increase in battery-related fires at recycling centers and solid waste facilities statewide, with incidents damaging infrastructure, raising insurance costs, and threatening worker safety at transfer stations and landfills.

Metro Councilor Duncan Hwang put the problem in regional terms. "Battery-related fires are not endemic to a single community, city or region," he said. "And they don't discriminate between the public and private sector. They put all of us in very real danger and threaten irreparable damage to the environment."

Under HB 4144, battery manufacturers must participate in a producer responsibility organization that will fund and manage the collection and recycling network. The law sets concrete accessibility targets: at least 95% of Oregon residents must have a collection site within 15 miles of their homes, and every city with a population of 4,000 or more must have at least one drop-off location. Producers will also be required to fund public education and outreach on safe disposal. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will oversee implementation and rulemaking, with enforcement carried out through a dedicated battery responsibility fund.

The legislation shifts recycling costs from local governments and ratepayers directly to manufacturers, while also aiming to recover valuable materials from used batteries. HB 4144 joins several existing extended producer responsibility laws in Oregon that require companies to implement recycling or safe disposal solutions for the products they make and sell.

Sen. Courtney Neron Misslin, who represents King City, Sherwood, Tigard and Wilsonville, called the measure long overdue. "This bill is a critical step in prevention of hazardous situations," Misslin said. "We must do everything we can to minimize risk, manage waste proactively, educate the public and prevent environmental contamination and fires." State Senator Anthony Broadman, D-Bend, is among the other sponsors of the legislation.

Because the statewide program does not launch until 2029, Lane County residents can use existing options now. Batteries can be dropped off at local transfer stations and stores. Lane County's Waste Wise App lists current collection locations, and Metro's Find a Recycler tool serves Portland-area residents. In Portland, Metro household hazardous waste facilities also accept batteries directly.