Batteries by themselves are not usually dangerous, but when batteries are placed in kerbside bins and they are combined with other materials and crushed, fire risks increase greatly.

There have been more than 10,000 fires and fire events across Australia in the last year related to batteries incorrectly placed in kerbside bins. In late October 2024, a fire in an Adelaide Hills recycling truck started by a battery in a kerbside bin caused over $150,000 damage.

This trial event will focus on ‘difficult to recycle’ and ‘hard to access’ embedded batteries, particularly lithium-ion batteries. Most of us have many of these kinds of batteries in our house that are no longer working. You can recycle these embedded battery products for free at this trial event.

Accepted embedded battery items include:

• bluetooth speakers and headphones
• electric toothbrushes
• e-scooters, e-bikes and hover boards
• flashing/light up toys – particularly wands or other hard plastic products
• personal care devices (such as shavers and massagers)
• powerpacks and portable charging devices
• remote controlled and ride-on toys
• vacuum cleaners (such as cordless, hand-held and robotic)
• vapes and e-cigarettes
• lighting products such as tealight candles, lanterns and torches
• wearable devices such as smart watches, trackers and medical aids.

Note: individual items and/or items bundled together must be less than 20kg.

• Loose handheld AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, 6V and button cell (‘watch’) batteries
• Detachable appliance batteries and power tool batteries
• E-waste or household appliances

The collected embedded battery materials will be transported by Cleanaway to the EcoCycle processing facility in Victoria.

At the processing facility, the materials will go through a separation process, where the battery components will be removed from each item. From there, the batteries and non-battery materials will go on to be recycled and turned into new products.

Batteries contain recyclable materials and metals like copper, aluminium, manganese, zinc, lithium, cobalt and steel that have many uses in manufacturing, especially electronics. Recycling these materials avoids the need to mine and refine virgin rare earth materials contributing to a more circular economy.