A proposal to future-proof B-cycle, Australia’s official product stewardship scheme for batteries, is open for industry consultation.
Representatives from industry, governments and organisations are invited to provide written feedback on the B-cycle Scheme Review Consultation Paper. In-person consultation events are also taking place around Australia during July 2024.
In a release, Battery Stewardship Council stated that B-cycle has built a solid foundation for improving battery stewardship and for leveraging experience and learnings since launching in early 2022.
However, the current scheme design is limited in its ability to create a circular economy for batteries given the degree of market change and the changing risk profile of batteries and does not provide adequate financial arrangements necessary for a range of market and economic changes and trends.
The scheme redesign will explore regulatory reform across an expanded range of battery component categories and government regulation to address free riders across the entire battery supply chain.
It will also consider inclusion of new battery categories such as any loose batteries (less than 60 kilograms) including portable energy storage, embedded batteries not covered by existing regulated schemes and vapes (legal and illegally imported); and emerging markets of battery categories such as installed or high voltage environments, energy storage and electric vehicles (subject to government direction).
Once feedback is received, BSC will refine the proposed battery stewardship scheme design and conduct further consultation as needed. The final approach will be informed by industry feedback and subject to approval by the BSC Board, and the authorisation of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, to launch B-cycle 2.0 in July 2025.
The deadline for written feedback on the consultation paper is Friday, 2 August 2024. All written feedback can be submitted here.
In-person consultation events will be held:
- Brisbane: Thursday 18 July, 10am – 3pm including lunch. Register here.
- Melbourne: Tuesday 23 July 10am – 3pm including lunch. Register here.
- Sydney: Thursday 25 July, 10am – 3pm including lunch. Register here.
Related stories:
B-cycle battery recycling scheme under review
Battery Stewardship calls for action on EV batteries
