Case Study: Taking Charge of Battery Waste — A Government-Backed Scheme

Taking charge of battery waste — a government-backed scheme

Source: Based on the B-cyck website: Intps://bcycle,com.au and the Sustainabilityntaners Artie, 06 October 2022

Australia's official government-backed battery recycling scheme, B-cycle, has released its first performance report — 'Positive Charge, highlighting the rapid scale and pace of the product stewardship scheme since its launch in February this year. The scheme has doubled the national collection rate of loose batteries and power tool batteries, recycling the equivalent of 38 million AA batteries in its first six months —enough loose batteries to wrap halfway around the world.

The Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020, requires manufacturers, importers and distributors to take greater responsibility for used batteries. Consumer pressure is driving a sustainability transformation and early industry participation keeps the potential of upcoming regulation at bay. The good news is that most Australians are happy to pay more for batteries that are recycled, such as the B-cycle accredited brand, to secure competitive advantage and collaborate with accredited wholesalers and retailers.

Founded by not-for-profit organisation the Battery Stewardship Council (BSC), the scheme aims to combat one of the nation's fastest growing waste streams by providing drop-off points in thousands of locations for people to safely and conveniently recycle everyday loose batteries. Every year Australians buy enough batteries to circle the planet 7.2 times and 90% of these used batteries go to landfill, causing environmental impact and wasting resources. The 'Positive Charge Report' reveals that in six months, the scheme has:

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• established 3200 drop-off points across all states and These drop-off points are responsible for collecting and sorting of disposed batteries before transporting them to the resource recovery centres (also known as B-cycle recycling facility) for recovery processing and reusing in manufacturing new products. By recovering over 95% of the materials of disposed batteries, these centres play a significant role in reducing pressure on Australia's finite sources.
• collected over 918,000 kg of used batteries from across Australia
• serviced over 65,000 searches for the closest B-cycle drop-off point on its website.

seen over 100 organisations participating, including 48 importers and 28 retailers. Importer organisations provide funding to allow the Battery Stewardship Council (BSC) to operate B-cycle through paying a levy on imported batteries which is ultimately passed through the supply chain via product pricing. Retailers sell and promote accredited battery brands such as the B-cycle brand that provides confidence to consumers in terms of responsible management of resource recycling and recovery.

CEO Libby Chaplin attributes the scheme's expansive progress to its open-source model, which involves everyone in the supply chain. "Our membership uptake points towards a paradigm shift in product stewardship. which has shown that rapid change can occur when an entire industry is mobilised to participate, rather than relying on the traditional service provider approach." she said.

By engaging over 90% of Australia's loose battery and power tool battery brands, the scheme is seeing that all batteries collected are recycled, with robust traceability and accreditation for all participants. Chaplin said: "As the scheme nears one year of operation, we are focusing on expanding our network into these burgeoning sectors whilst improving safety in all aspects of the battery life cycle and setting Australia on the right course to match the recycling capabilities of global leaders."

In the coming months, the scheme will be releasing research to understand life cycle impacts. assess the market, and evaluate the economics of the scheme.

Please answer the following two questions:

Question One

Identify at least five key stakeholders that are mentioned in the above case and critically discuss their reactive and (potential) proactive interests. (20 marks)

Question Two

Focusing on the role of the Australian government.

1. 1. Define and discuss the three sustainability policy tools (also known as the sustainability policy toolbox) that can be used to address the mentioned issue of the case (battery waste). (10 marks)
   2. Applying which of the above three policy tools by the Australian government can best satisfy all five stakeholders that you discussed in the previous question? Justify and support your answers with relevant examples from the case and/or beyond. Your answer most be based on the theories and concepts that we discussed in this unit. (10 marks)