Governments moving too slowly on battery fire ‘crisis’
Waste body calls for action to protect workers and the community.
What do you do with your old batteries? Do you recycle them or throw them into the rubbish? There are reportedly at least 10,000 battery-related fires in Australia each year, largely caused by people incorrectly disposing of them. On Friday, state and territory ministers discussed possible solutions but some industry bodies are calling for immediate action to fix the “crisis”, especially when it comes to lithium-ion batteries.
Australia’s peak waste management body has called for “a lot more action” from the nation’s environment ministers, after they agreed to work together to prevent lithium batteries from ending up in landfill and often causing fires.
When not stored or disposed of properly, lithium-ion batteries can cause significant damage if they catch alight.
The Australian Capital Territory’s main recycling facility was destroyed by a battery-related fire in 2022, while a fire at a lithium battery factory in South Korea on Monday killed at least 22 workers.
A report funded by Australian waste and recycling bodies and published by Pragmatic Research estimated there were between 10,000 and 12,000 battery-related fires in the local sector each year, as ABC News reported.
Australia already has a battery recycling scheme called B-cycle, but it does not accept all battery types.
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek held a meeting with state and territory environment ministers in Sydney on Friday, where they agreed to work on battery disposal as part of the country’s transition to a circular economy.
It was agreed that New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria would lead reforms to product stewardship arrangements for all batteries, including their “design, packaging, importation, storage and disposal”.
NSW said it would begin work on a draft Regulatory Impact Statement examining existing models, while Victoria, Queensland and NSW would all begin work on model legislation.
“I’m heartened by the strong environmental leadership of environment ministers in their states and territories, and their agreement to ambitious national targets,” Plibersek said following the meeting.
‘No proposed solution’
The Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association (WMRR), which represents more than 400 businesses and 2,100 members, said while it welcomed the emphasis on batteries and the commitment of an impact statement, immediate action was needed.
WMRR chief executive officer Gayle Sloan said having reports due before the next ministers meeting in December did not address “the current battery fire crisis happening now in our essential sector”.
“The waste and resource recovery industry is completely united in the need for action and investment now to provide safe alternative disposal for these hazardous and dangerous items,” she said.
“It is deeply disappointing that beyond noting battery fires are escalating, there is no proposed solution.”
Sloan said she hoped the National Circular Economy Framework being developed by the government would help the situation.
Prior to the ministers’ meeting, Sloan said the waste management industry experienced fires “on a daily basis in our waste collection vehicles and facilities, putting workers and infrastructure at risk”.
Batteries often end up in landfill, where they can cause fires and leak toxic chemicals
She said that while WMRR appreciated a national strategy would take time to build, “urgent action” was needed at battery collection points while the strategy was being developed.
“The reality is that all items with batteries must have a separate safe disposal pathway to get them out of kerbside bins, trucks and facilities that are not designed to collect these potentially incendiary devices,” she said.
“Removing them from the traditional collection stream requires urgent attention and funding.
“Our workers and facilities need to be safe, just like every other industry. We cannot continue as-is with the rate of fires.
“Our industry is fast approaching a time when we will not be able to insure our trucks and facilities, which will mean services to the community will be in doubt – and this is not something we say lightly.”
Sloan said greater community education was also needed about how to correctly dispose of batteries.
Richard Kirkman, chief executive of environmental services company Veolia, wrote on LinkedIn that the organisation he leads was also seeing “daily fires in bins, trucks and recycling facilities and that poses an enormous risk to our workers and local communities”.
“There are no nationally recognised collection points for this product which leaves consumers no options but to dump batteries into any bin that’s convenient — we need to provide that convenient easy-to-find alternative,” he said.
This article was written by Tom Williams and first published on the Information Age ACS, 25 June 2024. Read article
