Libby Chaplin wants to see Australia’s Battery Stewardship Scheme continue to evolve and proactively work with industry partners to address the changing risk profile of batteries.
The Battery Stewardship Council (BSC) Chief Executive Officer announced a review of the B-cycle scheme in the face of the current downturn in the economy.
She’s confident the review will result in improvements to the scheme to better enable B-cycle and its partners to adapt and address evolving market conditions.
“The industry and battery chemistries are changing all the time. It’s important the scheme responds to these market pressures and adapts accordingly,” Libby says.
“We’re taking a proactive stand to deliver our objectives and provide a platform for healthy and sustainable growth within the battery recycling industry.”
The national voluntary scheme was designed to encourage recycling and better waste management of end-of-life batteries.
Launched in 2022, B-cycle has resulted in the establishment of more than 5000 community drop-off points, the recycling of 4.5 million kilograms of batteries, and the injection of more than $22 million into the domestic battery recycling industry.
Image: Battery Stewardship Council
The scheme’s reauthorisation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) was scheduled for September 2025, but has been brought forward by the BSC Board in recognition of economic pressures. A general downturn in the economy has impacted battery sales and resulted in a reduction of revenue from the levy imposed on imports. There are increases in fuel and labour costs for the collectors, and reductions in commodity prices for B-cycle accredited recyclers through a rebate for recycled batteries. Libby says that since the scheme was designed in 2019, Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased by 16.8 per cent while commodity prices have reduced significantly.
Having established a strong foundation of the scheme, the BSC recognises a more nuanced approach is necessary, and is exploring the need for a modulated rebate to address the varying costs associated with working with different chemistries.
BSC has conducted economic modelling to assess the cost benefit of a modulated levy, based on the risks. The proposed restructure would enable an increased levy on high-risk products such as lithium and button batteries.
Preliminary consultation with B-cycle participants has been conducted. Next steps are for the BSC Board to review the proposed plan, before turning to a more comprehensive consultation in May. BSC intends to complete the review and prepare a submission to the ACCC for reauthorisation before the end of 2024.
An essential feature of the scheme review is a parallel process to establish an efficient but effective stewardship regulation that is focused on preventing freeriding, with conversations underway with government. BSC is of the view that free riders are actively engaging in anti-competitive behaviour by not participating and failing to ensure the safe end-of-life management of their products.
“With the current market we have a very high proportion of importers in the scheme but there are some recalcitrant, steadfast organisations not participating,” Libby says. “They are gaining a competitive advantage over organisations that take responsibility for their products.”
The review aims to increase safety and diversion of higher risk categories such as lithium batteries and button batteries. BSC is also seeking to enhance safety infrastructure and ensure consumers understand the importance of buying good quality batteries, and their safe use, storage and recycling.
A strong focus of the scheme is safety at all stages. This starts with B-cycle working with drop-off points to establish their own risk assessments and safety plans, and more than 1000 frontline staff receiving B-cycle drop-off point safety training.
Image: Sahan Nuhoglu / shutterstock.com
The collection containers provided for retail drop-off points have been installed with fire detection monitoring that alerts the collector and the store in the unlikely event of a fire-related incident. These containers and their kiosks have been imported from Europe where they were designed for safe battery collection by Bebat, one of the most successful schemes in the world. BSC’s industry partners are also investing in new and improved equipment and safety infrastructure to address this evolving issue.
Almost one fire a day is reported in the general waste and recycling sector. There are also safety risks associated with button batteries, which when ingested or inserted by young children and other vulnerable groups, can cause serious injury or fatality.
Currently, 55 per cent of Australians are incorrectly disposing of end-of-life batteries. While the B-cycle scheme has reduced this number from 63 per cent, Libby says there is more work to do.
“All Australians need to be aware to never dispose of batteries in kerbside bins,” she says.
That starts with purchasing batteries from brands participating in the scheme, through to protecting used battery terminals with tape and taking them to a dedicated battery recycling drop-off point at end-of-life, as reflected in the two nationwide campaigns released by B-cycle in 2023.
The ‘Never Bin Your Batteries’ campaign looked at the importance of not putting used batteries in general waste and recycling bins, while ‘This Tape Saves Lives’ encouraged Australians to tape the terminals of used batteries before taking them to a B-cycle drop-off point.
Libby says shifting the dial will require adequate resources to expand communication and education initiatives to give consumers the knowledge and skills they need to mitigate risk at all stages of the battery life cycle.
“Batteries are different to other waste products; they are a dangerous good,” Libby says. “We need strategies and consistency across the entire chain to ensure we are minimising the volume of batteries being disposed of incorrectly.
“Industry and governments are aligned on the need to reduce the risk.”
For more information, visit: www.bcycle.com.au
