The Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) and the Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association of New South Wales (WCRA) have released industry research outlining the dangers caused by electronic items thrown away in conventional waste and recycling streams.
This research shows that batteries, both loose and embedded in electronic items, are causing about 30 fires a day across Australia’s waste and recycling facilities, injuring workers, destroying infrastructure and pushing up costs.
Key findings:
- Between 10,000 and 12,000 battery-related fires a year across waste and recycling streams in Australia over the last 12 months.
- Battery-related fires have pushed up costs for waste and recycling businesses by an average of $400,000, and spurred an exponential rise in insurance premiums.
- These fires and heat events pose a significant risk to workers, as well as damaging or destroying trucks and infrastructure.
“Electronic items with batteries are dangerous across all parts of the waste and recycling system — including trucks, transfer stations, landfills and recycling facilities,” said WCRA Executive Director Brett Lemin.
“They cause fires and injuries and no battery should ever go into any conventional waste or recycling bin. These items are finding their way into the wrong waste systems because there are very few legitimate avenues for safe collection and the community is not sufficiently aware of the danger caused by incorrect disposal.”
ACOR Chief Executive Officer Suzanne Toumbourou said battery use is skyrocketing due to the uptake of e-bikes and e-scooters, as well as the surge in batteries in more and more household items, such as electric toothbrushes and cordless vacuum cleaners.
“There must be urgent government action to comprehensively roll out safe collection and to ensure product manufacturers are held accountable for the true cost of managing these types of electronic items,” Toumbourou said. “The current policy gap is threatening the safety of our workers and the future of recycling.”
Australia’s Environment Ministers last week agreed to take urgent action on reducing the risk of battery fires. New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria will lead action on reforms to product stewardship arrangements for all batteries.
Toumbourou and other industry leaders will dive into the complexities of battery recycling and strategies for mitigating risks at the Australasian Waste and Recycling Expo (AWRE) 2024 Summit, sponsored by NSW EPA, on July 24. Tickets are available here.
Download the report here.
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