Thursday 20 June 2024

ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS MEETING MUST DELIVER IMMEDIATE BATTERY ACTION

Friday’s Environment Ministers Meeting (EMM) must deliver immediate action to address the current battery fire crisis enveloping the waste and resource recovery (WARR) industry.

“The WARR industry is seeing fires on a daily basis in our waste collection vehicles and facilities, putting workers and infrastructure at risk,” Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) Chief Executive Officer Gayle Sloan said today. 

“Whilst we appreciate a comprehensive national strategy that addresses everything from battery design through to end of life takes time, we need urgent action on the ground now for collection points in all states, for all batteries, while the plan is developed.” she said. 

“The nation’s environment ministers must deliver immediate action to provide a safe disposal solution for all batteries. 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. 

“It is not a question of funding, it is a question of will, given the WARR industry contributes over $2 billion annually to state governments through waste levies alone. What we want to know from Ministers is why are our essential workers not entitled to be safe at work?

“The funding for collection points must also be supported by community education about how to dispose of batteries and what products to buy. Consumers need to make sure they buy only those items designed for disassembly and recovery, and that meet safety standards, as we all deserve to be safe from batteries in our homes and workplaces.

“There is a lot for Ministers to discuss tomorrow including packaging design and hopefully finally regulating the packaging industry to ensure the packaging placed on market is safe, can be collected and recovered in Australia and bought back by local remanufacturers and packagers. The time for talk on packaging really should be over, we need real action here too.

“We look forward to the Circular Economy Framework being developed by the Federal Government, and note that the reality is if we are bona fide in creating a circular economy in Australia by 2030, we need to move a lot faster and always include systems thinking in what we do, to ensure we incorporate both design and end of life - and not simply create problems for the next generation,” Ms Sloan said.