Batteries,found in hundreds of different household products thrown into bins,can burst into flames as their chemicals degrade – particularly rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission issued a safety warning after yet another lithium-ion battery fire.
The National Waste and Recycling Industry Council told a Senate inquiry that in 2023 more than 1000 battery-related fires were reported in the waste and recycling sector nationwide,an average of almost three a day.
Industry representatives appearing at the inquiry,chaired by Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson,said many people incorrectly assumed batteries could be thrown into the rubbish or recycling bins when they could only be safely disposed of at designated collection sites.
Re.Group,an Australian-owned recycling company,told the inquiry that people needed financial incentives to bring batteries into facilities and make suppliers accountable for their waste.
The company’s chief development officer,Garth Lamb,said batteries should be targeted with an initiative similar to the container deposit scheme that is in operation in all jurisdictions except Tasmania – which is set to implement it this year.
The container deposit scheme receives funds from suppliers of cartons,cans and bottles and pays 10¢ for any item that is dropped off by the public.
“This is a massive,massive issue,” Lamb said. “We’ve advocated for a deposit to be paid on batteries.”
Re.Group’s Canberra facility burnt down in 2022,and it had two fires at a Dandenong,Victoria,facility over the past six months – each of which he said had cost $250,000.
“Lithium-ion batteries in particular are disastrous for the sector as damage to the batteries causes runaway exothermic (heat producing) chemical reactions,which in turn leads to fires in trucks,recycling plants and landfills,” Re.Group’s submission said.
State and federal governments have acknowledged the need for reform but have not yet set a deadline for action.
A meeting of environment ministers in November last year to “lead work across jurisdictions that might inform future regulatory actions”.
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said she would impose new regulations to manage the disposal of embedded batteries,drawing on the work from.
“I’ve been clear that I expect those who supply these products,and the potentially hazardous batteries they contain,to take responsibility for the disposal of them,” she said.
“However,given industry has not stepped up,I will regulate a stewardship scheme for small electrical products and electronic equipment.”
Rick Ralph,chief executive of the National Waste Recycling Industry Council,said battery disposal regulations were going at “a snail’s pace compared to where we need to be”.
“It’s one of those things that has crept up and tipped the tipping point,” Ralph said.
Australian Council of Recycling chief executive Suzanne Toumbourou said embedded batteries posed an “existential threat” to the waste industry,and greater regulation and an awareness campaign were needed.
“Any item with an embedded battery poses a hazard in waste and recycling streams,” she said. “We have no regulatory interventions to manage this. That results in a hell of a lot of fires.”
The industry issued its warnings as Plibersek said the Albanese government would scrap a proposed levy on recyclable waste exports due to warnings that the so-called “recycling tax” would be counterproductive and drive more material to end up in landfill.
“We want to see more recycling,and avoid waste going into landfill,which this levy would have caused,” Plibersek said.
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