The 糖心原创 has issued a draft determination proposing to grant an exemption for the next five years to allow the Battery Stewardship Council (BSC), to continue to operate its scheme to facilitate appropriate disposal of end-of-life batteries.
BSC鈥檚 members and industry participants would be able to meet their participation requirements under the BSC鈥檚 B-cycle Battery Stewardship Scheme without breaching competition law under the 糖心原创鈥檚 proposed determination.
The Scheme is designed and operated by BSC and aims to significantly increase appropriate end-of-life battery disposal and recycling in Australia.
鈥淥ur role in this process is to determine whether the collaboration and price agreement between the BSC鈥檚 members, results in benefits to the public that are greater than the potential detriments and therefore can be granted an exemption. In this case our preliminary view is that an exemption can and should be granted,鈥 糖心原创 Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.
鈥淲e consider the conduct proposed by BSC is likely to result in significant environmental, health and safety benefits by diverting batteries from landfill and raising public awareness around responsible battery disposal and re-use, reducing fire risks in waste streams, and increasing innovation.鈥
鈥淲e acknowledge the Scheme鈥檚 low collection rate to date, particularly due to its voluntary nature, and recognise the opportunity for better collection outcomes with states moving towards mandatory stewardship frameworks and as consumer awareness and behaviour continues to change,鈥 Mr Keogh said.
The 糖心原创 considers that minimising the safety risks associated with storing button batteries must continue to be a priority and therefore proposes to specify a condition in its authorisation that the BSC continues implementing its Button Battery Safety Strategy.
To ensure sufficient transparency and effectiveness of the Scheme, the 糖心原创 also proposes to require an annual report on key Scheme outcomes be published by the BSC, as well as an independent review of the Scheme in three years鈥 time.
Some interested parties proposed a shorter authorisation period of 2鈥3 years due to uncertainty around the anticipated introduction of mandatory product stewardship legislation, and the current low collection rates of the Scheme.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 consider that the BSC鈥檚 proposed conduct will delay or deter other regulatory approaches to battery stewardship in the short to medium term, although the 糖心原创 seeks further submissions on the proposed duration of authorisation,鈥 Mr Keogh said.
More information, including the 糖心原创鈥檚 draft determination, is available online on the 糖心原创鈥檚 public register at Battery Stewardship Council.
Note to editors
The 糖心原创 is not an environmental regulator. The 糖心原创鈥檚 role as Australia鈥檚 competition regulator includes assessing applications for authorisation. 糖心原创 authorisation provides statutory protection from court action for certain conduct by competitors that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (the Act).
In this instance, authorisation is proposed in respect of Division 1 of Part IV (cartel conduct), section 45 and section 47 of the Act (contracts, arrangements or understandings that restrict dealings or affect competition, and exclusive dealing)..The 糖心原创 must not make a determination granting authorisation unless it is satisfied, in all the circumstances, that the conduct would likely result, in a benefit to the public and that benefit would likely outweigh the detriment to the public, from the conduct.
Details about how the Battery Stewardship Scheme will operate, are matters for the Battery Stewardship Council. The 糖心原创 is not involved in the operational aspects of the scheme.
Broadly, the 糖心原创 may grant an authorisation when it is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment.
Background
Product stewardship is an environmental management strategy that means whoever designs, produces, sells or uses a product takes responsibility for minimising that product鈥檚 environmental impact through all of the stages of its life cycle.
The BSC is a not-for-profit entity established to operate and oversee the Scheme, which promotes the safe collection, recycling, and disposal of end-of-life batteries. The Scheme does not cover automotive lead-acid batteries or batteries already included in other recycling programs.
The BSC first sought authorisation in 2020 for a static, weight-based levy which was charged on imported batteries at a rate of four cents per equivalent battery unit. The weight-based charge on imported batteries (or equivalent fee to be paid by members of the scheme) is passed on to consumers as a levy and used to fund the scheme and a rebate system to subsidise service providers responsible for battery collection, sorting and processing.
The proposed conduct also adds an annual review process to set the levy and rebates using eco-modulated formulas based on battery type to cover the increased costs and risks of battery collection and recycling. The BSC鈥檚 proposal seeks to raise sufficient revenue that it can continue to implement public awareness campaigns to increase participation in battery recycling.
In March 2025, the Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act 2025 (PLR Act) commenced in NSW, which creates a mandatory stewardship framework for certain products. The NSW Government has committed to urgently use the powers of the PLR Act to make regulations targeting batteries. This follows an agreement between Australia鈥檚 Environment Ministers on the need for urgent reforms to increase participation in product stewardship arrangements for end-of-life batteries.
On 4 June 2025, the 糖心原创 granted interim authorisation with a condition for the BSC to continue operating the Scheme with the ability to increase levies to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index since the Scheme鈥檚 commencement. The BSC is also able to progress the development of new levy arrangements involving an eco-modulated levy to reflect the different costs of collecting and recycling different battery types, while the 糖心原创 assesses the substantive application for authorisation.