415 ILCS 205/45

(415 ILCS 205/45)

Sec. 45. Education and outreach requirements.

(a) Each battery stewardship organization must carry out promotional activities in support of plan implementation including, but not limited to:

(1) the development and maintenance of a website;

(2) the development and distribution of periodic press releases and articles;

(3) the development and placement of advertisements for use on social media or other relevant media platforms;

(4) the development of promotional materials about the program and the restriction on the disposal of covered batteries in Section 70 to be used by persons, including, but not limited to, retailers, government agencies, waste and recycling collectors, and nonprofit organizations;

(5) the development and distribution of collection site safety training procedures that are in compliance with State law to collection sites to help ensure proper management of covered batteries at collection sites; and

(6) the development and implementation of outreach and educational resources that are conceptually, linguistically, and culturally accurate for the communities served and reach the State's diverse ethnic populations, including through meaningful consultation with communities that bear disproportionately higher levels of adverse environmental and social justice impacts.

(b) Each battery stewardship organization must provide:

(1) consumer-focused educational promotional materials to each collection site used by the program and accessible by customers of retailers that sell covered batteries or battery-containing products containing one or more covered batteries; and

(2) safety information related to covered battery collection activities to the operator of each collection site, including appropriate protocols to reduce risks of spills or fires, response protocols in the event of a spill or fire, and response protocols in the event of detection of a damaged or defective battery.

(c)(1) Each battery stewardship organization must provide educational materials to the operator of each collection site for the management of recalled batteries, which are not intended to be part of collection as provided under this Act, to help facilitate transportation and processing of recalled batteries.

(2) A battery stewardship organization may seek reimbursement from the producer of the recalled battery for expenses incurred in the collection, transportation, or processing of those batteries.

(d) Upon request by a retailer or other potential collector, the battery stewardship organization must provide the retailer or other potential collector educational materials describing collection opportunities for batteries.

(e) If multiple battery stewardship organizations are implementing plans approved by the Agency, the battery stewardship organizations must coordinate in carrying out their education and outreach responsibilities under this Section and must include in their annual reports to the Agency under Section 50 a summary of their coordinated education and outreach efforts.

(f) During the first year of program implementation and every 5 years thereafter, each battery stewardship organization must carry out a survey of public awareness regarding the requirements of the program established under this Act, including the provisions of Section 70. Each battery stewardship organization must share the results of the public awareness surveys with the Agency.

(Source: P.A. 103-1033, eff. 8-9-24.)