When buying a lead-acid battery or a remanufactured car part, there's often a core charge that is rebated when you return the old part. The last battery I purchased it was $22 (on a $170 battery). Now, I would've returned the old battery anyway because it's easy, convenient, and what the heck else would I do with it, but $22 was also a pretty decent incentive.

So I'd think you just need to get the incentives right: make it easy and convenient to return and provide a financial reason to do so.

On the other hand, last year I replaced all the smoke alarms in my home. It is essentially impossible to recycle the old alarms. Here's what my town says:

"Only a single household smoke alarm/detector will be accepted with your trash for garbage collection. If you have more than one, they must be disposed using one of these listed options; https://deq.nc.gov/conservation/recycling/general-recycling-... or, check manufacturer for take-back program."

Here's what my county says (in the "unacceptable items" section):

"Smoke detectors contain trace amounts of radioactive material. The recommendation is for consumers to return the smoke detectors to the manufacturers or contact NC Radiation Protection at 919-814-2250."

Here's what my state says:

"The Solid Waste Section recommends that it is safe for a single household fire/smoke detector to be disposed of in a lined municipal solid waste landfill."

No manufacturer has a take-bake program. The county isn't on the same page with the town and the state. So in the trash they went, one per week. Took 3 months to get rid of them all.