Council raises alarm about ‘unacceptable risk’ to waste services, community

A burning safety issue facing communities is a huge surge in waste-stream fires caused by dumped batteries, with up to 12,000 fires estimated.

Battery recycling Waste collection contractors are seeing an increase in truck fires caused by lithium batteries. Supplied.

A burning issue facing communities across Australia is a huge surge in waste-stream fires caused by dumped batteries with up to 12,000 a year estimated to be occurring.

Gladstone Regional Council raised the matter in a March meeting as one of urgency and will ask for nationwide support from more than 100 councils attending the Australia Local Government Association conference in June.

A council officer reporting on the issue said strong action was needed to tackle the serious and escalating safety threat.

Landfill fires caused by people dumping batteries in their bins are an escalating safety problem across Australia.

“Waste industry research and analysis estimates that between 10,000 to 12,000 battery-related fires occur across waste and recycling streams each year in Australia,” she said.

“These events range from self-managed heating events with minor to no consequence, to events requiring emergency services response and the partial or total loss of equipment and infrastructure in addition to causing environmental harm.

“This is a really clear issue facing councils across Australia.

“There are many, many fires councils are experiencing as well industry providers and its becoming an increasingly unacceptable risk for local government, waste services, and infrastructure as well as our workers and community safety.”

Landfill related workers are among those at risk from battery fires.

The officer said a review of the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 was currently in development but that process was taking too long and the Australian Government needed to fast track legislation to ensure greater disposal responsibility for all producers and importers of loose and embedded batteries.

“Where local government, community and the broader waste industry wait for an outcome of the review, more public property will be lost, costs to the community for waste services will increase, and worker and community safety will be at risk from batteries. The time to act on this issue is now,” she said.

“The Australian Government has the power to create or amend existing legislative instruments regarding national recycling and waste matters and product stewardship concerns, for this national issue.”

The Gladstone motion to the national local government conference reads:

This National General Assembly urgently calls on the Australian Government to address the risks of battery disposal by:

1. Implementing appropriate battery product stewardship legislation, that includes extended producer responsibilities.

2. Moving to a mandatory national product stewardship scheme, to ensure all producers and importers of loose and embedded batteries are captured and contribute to the end-of-life risk mitigations and disposal and recovery costs.

3. Support local government efforts through funding, to manage and mitigate battery related risks to waste services and infrastructure.

She said a national voluntary and industry-led battery voluntary scheme was not resulting in the required recovery and elimination of all battery types from residual waste streams.

“Batteries continue to damage and destroy waste infrastructure and pose a significant safety risk to local government employees and users of waste facilities,” she said.

“It is commonplace across Australia for loose and embedded battery products to be disposed at local government waste facilities which leaves ever-present risks of fire, injury and infrastructure damage for local governments to manage.”

Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the motion.

Originally published as Council raises alarm about ‘unacceptable risk’ to waste services, community