California cuts its battery-embedded recycling fee cap from $15 to $1 for 2027

California will keep charging its recycling fee on products with built-in batteries in 2027, but the most any one item can carry will drop sharply. In a special notice dated November 2026, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) said the covered battery-embedded (CBE) waste recycling fee will stay at 1.5% of the retail sales price from January 1, 2027, while the maximum falls from $15 to $1 per product. Anything priced at $66.67 or more will pay a flat $1.

The fee has applied since January 1, 2026. The state's recycling department, CalRecycle, lists wireless speakers and headphones among the products that typically carry it, along with many cell phones and smart watches. The change matters most on pricier gear: under this year's cap, a $400 speaker carries a $6.00 fee, and from January it will carry $1.00, by our arithmetic with CDTFA's rates.

What the fee comes to at common prices

Retailers generally collect the fee at the sale and must state it separately on the receipt or invoice, CDTFA says, keeping 3% to cover their costs. An online marketplace acting as a marketplace facilitator counts as the retailer. A buyer who does not pay the fee at purchase for a product used in California must register with CDTFA and pay it directly.

Which products count

Under state law, a covered battery-embedded product is one whose battery is not designed to be easily removed by the user with no more than commonly used household tools. CDTFA's guide names those tools: flathead, crosshead and Phillips screwdrivers, paper clips, coins and hex keys. Manufacturers decide which of their products fall within the definition, and each year they must send retailers a notice listing the covered and the exempt ones. CalRecycle has compiled the notices it received into product lists, but it warns that the lists are incomplete and may include products that are not covered.

Some products sit outside the fee. Video display devices with screens larger than four inches, such as TVs, laptops and tablets, pay California's older screen fee instead, and a retailer charges only that one. Power banks are classed as loose batteries under a separate program, so they do not carry the CBE fee, according to CalRecycle's questions and answers, last updated on May 15, 2026. Certain medical devices, energy storage systems and electronic nicotine delivery systems are also excluded.

Why the fee exists, and what is still open

The fee comes from Senate Bill 1215, enacted in 2022, which CalRecycle says is meant to reduce battery fires and injuries to sanitation workers and to make sure batteries are collected for recycling rather than thrown away. The money goes to approved collectors and recyclers. CalRecycle stresses that the fee is not a deposit and has no redemption value. It sets the rate and the cap by October 1 each year for the following calendar year.

Neither the CDTFA notice nor the CalRecycle pages we read on November 13 give a reason for the lower cap. CalRecycle says data on battery-embedded products in the program will be available sometime in 2027, and that from August 1, 2028 it may, if necessary, set more than one fee by product category. CalRecycle's proposed emergency rules would also clarify the fee amounts for bundled products and phones. On November 13, the “Current Status” section of its rulemaking page still said that CalRecycle “will be holding an informal public workshop on July 14, 2026,” and the page carried no rulemaking documents, which it says will be posted at least five working days before CalRecycle files notice with the Office of Administrative Law.

How it compares with the screen fee

TVs and other screens pay a flat amount by size rather than a percentage: $4 for screens over 4 inches and under 15 inches, $5 from 15 inches to under 35 inches, and $6 for 35 inches or more. Those amounts have applied since January 1, 2020, and CalRecycle says an assessment in 2025 kept them. In 2009 and 2010 the largest size paid $25, according to CDTFA's rate history.

For recycling a product, CalRecycle points to its eRecycle directory of local e-waste collectors. Its questions and answers note that approved collectors were not required to start accepting battery-embedded products on January 1, 2026, so not every collector takes them.