Michigan residents discard roughly 11,000 tons of batteries a year — including an estimated 29 million lithium-ion units — a gap that two Michigan House bills aim to close by shifting end-of-life costs to producers and distributors. House Bills 6159 and 6160, authored by Rep. David Martin (R-Davison) and Rep. Tyron Carter (D-Detroit), received their first hearing Sept. 23, 2026 before the House Natural Resources and Tourism Committee.

What would the bills require?

The package would compel every battery seller and distributor operating in Michigan to either establish a stewardship program approved by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) or join an existing stewardship organization. Under the framework, stewardship plans must deliver three conditions:

• Collection at no cost to consumers, retailers, local governments, or the state
• Service that is "regular, convenient, accessible and available statewide"
• End-of-life management and administration funded by the stewardship organization — or by businesses running their own compliant program

Retailers that sell batteries may serve as collection sites, but participation is not mandatory.

How big is the disposal gap?

The 11,000-ton annual figure comes from the Michigan Battery Gap Analysis 2025 published by the Michigan Recycling Coalition. The state's 29 million discarded lithium-ion cells sit at the center of a national safety crisis that has already disrupted collection fleets.

Katie Raverty-Evans, vice president of chapter relations for the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA), told lawmakers the waste industry treats battery management as a safety issue first.

"When lithium batteries and other batteries are placed in household trash or other containers, they can be crushed, punctured, or damaged during collection and processing, creating a potential for thermal events and fires in collection vehicles, transfer stations, recycling facilities and disposal sites," Raverty-Evans said.

Raverty-Evans cited an NWRA report authored with Resource Recycling Systems that documented 5,000 fires annually at recycling facilities tied to improper lithium-battery disposal. She also pointed to a newly opened recycling facility in Nashville, Tennessee that closed for three months after a fire.

Washtenaw County Director of Public Works Theo Eggermont — who chairs the Michigan Recycling Coalition's policy committee — reported that county trash trucks discharged their loads in parking lots more than once in 2026 because of in-cab battery ignitions.

"As a government official that cares about where materials go and the impacts of those materials, that's not an acceptable way to manage this material," Eggermont said.

What does the industry want from the framework?

Eggermont framed recovery as a critical-minerals supply issue: "Batteries contain critical minerals that are needed in manufacturing, and when captured, allow us to reduce the dependence on international supply chains."

Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs President Chris Stoecklein pushed for upstream prevention: "The safest thing for a firefighter and for the public is to never have that fire in the first place."

Where do manufacturers push back?

Mike Witkowski, director of environmental and regulatory policy for the Michigan Manufacturers Association, opposed the bills. He acknowledged lithium-battery handling risks but argued the state should build on existing infrastructure rather than add new producer obligations.

"Under these bills, producers would be responsible for funding collection, transport, recycling, education, administration, safety requirements, and other programs," Witkowski said.

"There's also no statutory cap on the overall cost of that obligation, so all of that would be passed on to manufacturers or producers of these batteries without sort of a stopgap in how much it costs," Witkowski added.

If the legislature decides additional services are needed, Witkowski argued users — including manufacturers, when appropriate — should pay.

What happens next?

The committee took testimony only and did not schedule a vote. The next milestone is a markup of HB 6159 and 6160, which will determine whether the framework advances to the full House with or without amendments addressing manufacturer cost caps and retailer participation language.