Sustainability in Action

19 Dec, 2024

BATTERY SAFETY

As our lives continue to become increasingly interwoven with technology, our reliance on battery-operated products grows with it. From e-bikes and scooters, to phones, power banks, and drones- we’re surrounded by batteries every day.

WHAT RISKS DO BATTERIES POSE?

The increase in battery usage also dictates an increase in fire risk, especially in regards to lithium and other rechargeable battery products. While we’ve seen some stories of battery fires reported on the news beginning in household environments, the fire risk of incorrect battery disposal through household waste and recycling bins is not well known in the community. In the 12 month period between June 2023- 2024, approximately 3,115 battery-related fires where reported by surveyed Australian recycling facilities, with over 10% of these requiring fire and rescue services to control. It is believed the true number of incidents nation-wide to total approximately 10-12,000 each year. When batteries catch fire or are broken in landfill, they can release harmful chemicals into the air and soil, further risking our people and our environment.

WHY IS BATTERY RECYCLING NOT WIDELY ACCEPTED?

Beyond education, one major issue with proper battery disposal lays with the lack of stewardship schemes for the disposal and recycling of many battery-operated products and e-waste, which in-turn sees these products (along with their batteries) disposed of into standard landfill. Many of these products, such as children’s toys and light-up fashion items like kids shoes, are also using embedded batteries that consumers are not always able to remove. We need focused action from our governments and battery industry to expand the accessibility of safe battery disposal to our population, while increasing the recovery and recycling of these finite materials to be used in new batteries moving forward.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Close the Loop are leaders in the recovery and recycling of difficult product streams – we offer our battery recycling program online, which allows anyone to safely recycle their batteries with the purchase of a fire-proof battery box. Batteries collected through our program are provided to our partners Enviro-stream, for material recovery and reuse. For information on where to properly dispose of e-waste, batteries and other problematic products like toys, visit your local council website or check out Recycle Smart.