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Industry group urges committee to approve framework for responsible electric-vehicle battery management
Summary
Redwood Materials and witnesses urged a favorable report on a bill to set end-of-life management expectations for electric and hybrid vehicle batteries, emphasizing market-driven standards and domestic recycling capacity over prescriptive extended-producer-responsibility rules.
A representative of Redwood Materials urged the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy to support legislation (Senate Bill 2,283) establishing a framework for responsible end-of-life management of electric and hybrid vehicle batteries that favors market-driven coordination over highly prescriptive extended-producer-responsibility regimes.
"We are an American company building the first US-based battery supply chain for electric vehicles and clean energy storage systems," Daniel Zotos, Redwood Materials' director of state policy and public affairs, said in testimony. He told the committee the company works with vehicle makers, secondary handlers and automotive recyclers to recycle and refine battery materials and to rebuild domestic supply chains for future battery components.
Zotos said the bill under consideration takes a pragmatic approach: it sets guardrails and expectations for responsible handling and recovery of batteries without imposing a single, prescriptive producer-run system that could inadvertently hamper innovation or create a patchwork of inconsistent requirements across states. Redwood urged harmonization of standards where possible and offered the company's willingness to participate in state and multi-state discussions about consistent approaches.
The witness said the emerging market for end-of-life lithium-ion batteries is already functioning in the United States and that Massachusetts can promote a resilient domestic supply chain by adopting targeted, flexible rules that encourage responsible collection, safe handling and recycling of battery materials.
Zotos said Redwood would welcome participation in the Clean Energy Act'mandated extended producer responsibility working group and encouraged the committee to adopt a legislative framework that anticipates increasing EV volumes and ensures safe, efficient processing and reuse of critical battery materials.
The committee did not take a vote at the hearing and invited additional written comments and participation by stakeholders in ongoing policy working groups.
