Queensland business set to turn toxic waste into fertiliser

A Queensland business will transform the toxic waste from one common household product into fertiliser in a major environmental win.

A Queensland business is powering ahead with a solution to a 10-tonne toxic landfill problem that affects millions of kilolitres of groundwater.

ReNutrients will use new technology to recycle batteries, turning them into fertiliser, in a major environmental win.

In the past, Australia has had a poor rate of recycling batteries with less than 96 per cent of all of the products not processed properly and dumped into landfill.

This causes issues where the heavy metals leak into groundwater. A recent Australian Battery Recycling Initiative report found that there were almost 10 tonnes of alkaline batteries put into landfill each year.

A single battery can pollute up to 167,000 litres of water.

Alkaline batteries dumped in landfill is a major environmental problem for Australia.

But a groundbreaking new plan would see alkaline batteries stripped of their useful manganese and zinc minerals before being used as a water-based fertiliser for Australian crops.

ReNutrients will build its processing plant within the next two years.

Managing director Brett Smuts said there would be significant environmental wins from correctly recycling the batteries.

“Previously, Australia used to collect used batteries only to export and dispose of it into landfills in Australia or overseas,” he said.

“Most countries have now banned the importation of toxic waste, leaving no other option than to be placed into Australian landfills. With less than 4 per cent of batteries recycled in Australia, we are risking our health and our planet by not recycling – this includes burns to eyes, skin and cancer, as well as contributing greatly to landfill fires that fill our airways with toxicity.”

In 2020 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) approved Australia’s official battery stewardship scheme, B-cycle, which is currently being developed by the Battery Stewardship Council for launch in early 2022.

The European-developed technology that has been patented for Australian use to create the fertiliser from discarded batteries.

To date there have been only limited options for battery recycling in Australia.

B-cycle is trying to improve that through incentivising collection, sorting and recycling of batteries.

ReNutrients will use the European-developed technology (that has been patented for Australian use) to process old alkaline batteries into a rich micronutrient fertiliser called ZM Grow.

And as a fertiliser, it also is top of its game. After testing overseas, trials have shown it outperforms competing products on the market in both yield volume and uptake of crops.