Florida Senate Bill 912 (CS/SB 912, "Battery Collection and Recovery") would have created the Safe Battery Collection and Recovery Act in the 2026 session, but it died in committee on March 13, 2026 and did not become law.
What SB 912 proposed
CS/SB 912, titled "Battery Collection and Recovery," would have established Florida's Safe Battery Collection and Recovery Act. It proposed an extended-producer-responsibility (EPR) framework: producers of covered batteries and battery-containing products would have had to meet collection-and-recovery obligations, and battery stewardship organizations would have had to file stewardship plans with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for review and approval.
The bill carried a proposed effective date of July 1, 2026, but it died in committee on March 13, 2026 and did not become law.
Why it still matters
Battery EPR is advancing across the country, and stalled bills tend to come back. The underlying problem isn't going anywhere: lithium-ion and other batteries embedded in laptops, phones, UPS units, and IoT devices are a fire risk and an environmental hazard when they're tossed in with general waste or unmanaged e-waste.
- Battery-containing electronics need handling that's safe and documented regardless of any single bill's fate
- Producer-responsibility expectations are tightening even where they aren't yet law
- Responsible downstream recovery, not landfill, is the defensible position
What to do now
Whether or not Florida enacts battery EPR, the practical answer is the same: route battery-containing electronics through a recycler that handles them responsibly and documents where they went. American Circular is built to provide no-landfill electronics recycling with responsible material recovery and an auditable chain of custody, processed locally in Tampa Bay.
Frequently asked questions
Did Florida's SB 912 battery bill become law?
No. CS/SB 912 ("Battery Collection and Recovery") died in committee on March 13, 2026 and did not become law. Its proposed effective date had been July 1, 2026.
How should we handle battery-containing electronics now?
Route them through a recycler that handles batteries responsibly and documents the chain of custody, regardless of any pending legislation. American Circular is built to provide no-landfill electronics recycling with an auditable record of disposition.