The Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) has applauded the passing of the Product Lifecycle Responsibility Bill 2025 by the NSW Parliament and has called on all other states and territories to implement the framework immediately.
Batteries will be the first products regulated under the Act, which was passed late on Friday, 31 March.
“Our industry, which plays a critical role in managing essential waste, has been facing a national crisis with the ongoing escalation of battery-related fires in our trucks and facilities,” said Gayle Sloan, Chief Executive Officer of WMRR.
“The reality is that we are not the manufacturers of these products, but we are the ones dealing with the fallout – both literally and financially.
“Finally, in New South Wales, the government will have the necessary regulatory tools to oversee stewardship organisations and enforce requirements across a product’s entire lifecycle – from design and production through to recovery and disposal.”
The new Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act creates a framework for suppliers of certain products to participate in mandatory stewardship schemes. Those who make and sell products will have to adhere to requirements on design and manufacturing, reuse and recycling and safe disposal options of their product.
According to NSW Fire and Rescue, batteries are the fastest growing fire risk in New South Wales. The organisation responded to 384 lithium-ion battery incidents since 2024 alone. Those incidents include at least 33 injuries and multiple fatalities.
The waste and recycling industry estimates that between 10,000 and 12,000 fires each year in trucks and at waste facilities are caused by improper disposal, use, and poor design of lithium batteries.
Sloan praised NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe for listening to industry and pushing forward with the scheme to help make the sector’s workers and community safe.
“With more than 12,000 fires annually in the waste and resource recovery industry, the time to say that keeping us safe is another level of government’s responsibility to fix is well and truly over. NSW has shown the way!”
Sloan said WMRR urgently calls on all environment ministers to act quickly to reduce the risks of battery fires and progress align state-led reforms for mandatory battery product stewardship.
Currently, Australia only has a voluntary national stewardship scheme, B-cycle, which covers a limited range of batteries. Due to its voluntary nature, it faces challenges with both free riders and increasing recovery rates beyond 15 per cent.
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