Learn how to stay compliant with battery recycling laws while supporting a cleaner planet. This guide walks you through everything you need to set up Ascend and train your team for fee collection on two different battery recycling programs:

• California SB 1215 — Covered Battery-Embedded (CBE) Waste Recycling Fee (variable fee, % of price, capped)

SB 1215 - Covered Battery-Embedded (CBE) Products

Starting January 1, 2026, California law (SB 1215) requires retailers to collect a recycling fee at checkout for certain products with built-in (non-removable) batteries. These are called Covered Battery-Embedded or CBE products. 

If your store sells these items, you’ll need to collect a fee at the point of sale, display it clearly on receipts, and remit the funds quarterly to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA).

Getting Started

Spot covered products

1. Use the manufacturer-provided list to determine which SKUs are considered CBE products (embedded / non-easily removable battery).
   1. You can access the list of Trek Battery Embedded Products on Ascend Sharefile.
      1. Log into Sharefile > US Downloads > Other Files > Battery-Embedded Products.
   2. We linked some additional Supplier lists of affected products at the bottom of this article.
2. Train staff to recognize covered items at the register. This is critical because the fee is not applied to entire product categories.

Register Your Store(s)

1. Register for a CBE waste recycling fee account through CDTFA Online Services.
2. Confirm your filing frequency (CDTFA will assign quarterly or yearly). The first quarterly return for January 1–March 31, 2026 is due April 30, 2026.

Creating a Fee SKU/Product in Ascend

Because the SB 1215 fee is variable and required to be displayed on the customer receipt, the recommended approach to handle this in Ascend is to create one non-inventory product for the fee and override the price at checkout based on the item’s sales price. 

1. From the Ascend desktop Click Database Explorer or Products tiles.
2. Click Add and create a new non-inventory product:
   1. Description: 
      1. CA CBE Recycling Fee (SB 1215) Collected - use this if the customer will be paying the fee OR
      2. CA CBE Recycling Fee (SB 1215) Covered by Retailer - use this if you will be paying the fee on the customer's behalf
   2. Brand: (leave blank or use a neutral brand like “State Fee”)
   3. UPC: CA-CBE-FEE
   4. SKU: CA-CBE-FEE
   5. Category: Services - Recycling or a Category in your database that best fits.
   6. Estimated Cost: $0.00
   7. MSRP: $0.00 (this will be overridden per sale)
   8. Tax Rate: 0.0000%
      1. Tax rate can be set on the product or category level.
3. Check the Non-Inventory box under Properties.
4. Click Save.

Add the Fee SKU at checkout

For each covered product sold to a California customer:

1. Scan the covered product as normal.
2. Calculate the fee amount:
   • Fee = 1.5% of the retail sales price
   • Cap: $15.00 per item
3. Add the CA-CBE-FEE SKU as a separate line item.
4. Double-click the fee SKU to change the price to the calculated fee amount.

5. Ensure the fee is separately stated on the customer receipt/invoice and not included in sales tax calculation.

Additional Methods for Tracking

Note: These are suggested methods only. You are responsible for collecting, tracking, and reporting fees on applicable products.

In addition to adding the fee SKU to the customer transaction, there are two additional methods you could use for tracking products that should have the fee associated.

Option 1: Create CBE Product Subcategories

Ensure you are nesting and expanding categories correctly. For more information on creating or modifying Categories, check out our article: Products - Categories.

Option 2: Tag Products Using the “Other” Field + Query

For each of the affected product add CBE into the Other field of the Product record. Using this method will require use of a query to identify sales, units, revenue, and calculated fees.

SELECT
  CASE
    WHEN FLOOR(si.Price/1000) = 0 THEN 'Sub $1,000'
    ELSE 'Above $1,000'
  END AS 'Type',
  SUM(si.Price * si.Quantity) AS Revenue,
  SUM(si.Price * si.Quantity) * 0.015 AS Fee,
  SUM(si.Quantity) AS Units
FROM SalesItems si
INNER JOIN Sales s
  ON si.SalesID = s.ID
  AND s.FinishDate BETWEEN <<StartDate>> AND <<EndDate>>
INNER JOIN Products p
  ON si.ProductID = p.ID
  AND p.Other = 'CBE'
WHERE si.Hide <> 1
GROUP BY
  CASE
    WHEN FLOOR(si.Price/1000) = 0 THEN 'Sub $1,000'
    ELSE 'Above $1,000'
  END

Submit Your Fee Reports

1. File your CBE waste recycling fee return electronically through CDTFA Online Services.
2. Remit collected fees (less any allowed retailer retention) by the due date for your filing period.
3. Maintain records showing covered products sold, fees collected, and any refunds processed.

Links to Supplier Lists

This is not a comprehensive list or links to all of the Suppliers. Just a list of those we could find easily find through a Google Search.

• Trek: Log into Sharefile > US Downloads > Other Files > Battery-Embedded Products.
• Shimano California SB 1215 Recycling Fee
• SRAM California SB 1215 Recycling Fee
• Wahoo California SB 1215 Recycling Fee
• Lazer California SB 1215 Recycling Fee

Resources

• CDTFA Filing Instructions
• CBE Fee Overview
• Filing Video
• CalRecycle Guide
• Covered Products List