One year on from a battery fire that destroyed a recycling facility in Australia’s capital city, the peak body for resource recovery, recycling and remanufacturing in Australia has released an issues paper on the battery crisis in the industry.
A Burning Issue: Navigating the battery crisis in Australia’s recycling sector, offers expert recommendations for the escalating hazards posed by loose and embedded batteries in conventional waste and recycling streams.
Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) and its members continue to raise the alarm that fires caused by batteries are now widespread across material recycling facilities, in trucks, and in depots — in short, at every point across waste and recycling systems.
ACOR said the increasing number of ‘smart’ and ‘disposable’ items containing embedded and sealed batteries, poor product stewardship, a lack of access to safe disposal options and low community awareness, have contributed to the steep rise in batteries in conventional waste and recycling streams.
“Over the past year, there were more than 1000 battery-related fire incidents reported in the waste and recycling sectors nationwide, amounting to over three a day. It is unlikely that this figure even begins to reveal the true extent of the battery crisis for recyclers,” said ACOR Chief Executive Suzanne Toumbourou.
“The cost of these incidents is being borne by the community through rising rates, by councils through truck fires and service disruption, and by the recycling industry in the loss of critical infrastructure and future risk.
“A major priority is a comprehensively accessible network of collection points for the community to safely deposit loose and embedded batteries, including vapes.”
Toumbourou said there are critical actions that governments across Australia must take to address these risks, including comprehensive and convenient safe collection locations for all forms of loose and embedded batteries, a community education campaign, e-stewardship reform including a deposit scheme, and regulatory harmonisation and enforcement.
“The current number of incidents is only the beginning. The increase of smartphones, smartwatches, fitness trackers, wireless headphones, and other portable gadgets is contributing to the rising presence of batteries, with new battery-power products rapidly entering the Australian market,” said Toumbourou.
“Vapes are one of the many new products that have been introduced into the market with no producer regard or responsibility for safe disposal at end of use. Estimates show that there is now one vape per two tonnes of material received via kerbside recycling—potentially suggesting hundreds of thousands of vapes across all waste streams.”
She said while batteries may play a pivotal role in the circular economy and emissions reduction, it is important that safe battery disposal and recycling can close the loop.
“We are urgently calling for the establishment of a comprehensive collection network, robust community education campaigns, holistic e-stewardship reform, and harmonised regulations,” Toumbourou said.
“These will be essential to stemming fires, protecting recycling facilities and preserving lives.”
For more information, visit: www. acor.org.au
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