Australia commits to further action on progressing towards a circular economy with plans for nationally consistent product stewardship over batteries. NSW leads the way with regulations for batteries under the Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act, to come into effect by October this year.

After years of campaigning by TEC for mandatory product stewardship over batteries, progress is at last being made.  At the joint Environment Ministers’ Meeting (EMM) on 27 March 2026, state and federal environment Ministers agreed to develop an Inter-Governmental Agreement by mid-2026 for Environment Ministers’ intervention on circular economy issues, including a set of principles to prioritise issues and actions with the greatest impact on circular markets, waste and resource recover. Ministers have tasked their officials to draft nationally consistent product stewardship plan options, with a focus on batteries (and packaging), to be presented at the next Environment Ministers’ Meeting (EMM) later this year. 

This builds on the good work of the NSW state government in introducing the nation-leading stewardship regulation for batteries under the Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act - making NSW the first state in Australia with mandatory product stewardship for small and removable batteries under 5 kg—including AA, AAA, power banks, e-bike and e-scooter batteries.  Under the new regulations, effective from 1 October 2026:

• Brand owners must join the scheme and pay a levy to fund safe collection, disposal, and recycling
• Dedicated battery drop-off points will be available for households
• Public education campaigns will raise awareness of battery fire risks
• Annual reporting will track battery supply and recycling performance
• Non-compliant suppliers face penalties up to $880,000

Commenting on the need for regulated stewardship, and aligning with our longstated policy position, Acting Premier Prue Car said: “All too often, products are designed with no consideration for what happens when they reach the end of their life, and batteries are a clear example of the consequences.”  Similarly NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe commented that the NSW Government wanted “to see battery suppliers take greater responsibility for the safe collection and recycling of their products.” 

The new reforms come after vocal criticism by TEC and recyclers of B-cycle, Australia’s voluntary battery stewardship program which was designed and is governed by the battery industry. You can read our previous Battery Crisis Report and Battery Crisis Update  online. 

As an industry led scheme, participating battery producers and importers had sway over how little they wanted to contribute to the stewardship scheme. As a result, the levies collected by the voluntary scheme were not sufficient to cover the cost of collecting and recycling even 20% of in scope end of life batteries.  Financial documents obtained from the Australian Charities and not-for-profit Commission, shows Bcycle in a deficit of more than $2.25m in the financial year ending 2025, up almost 300% from their $710k deficit in 2024.

National harmonisation on the horizon

The development of a draft intergovernmental agreement to deliver options for nationally consistent product stewardship is a major move by state governments, partly in response to the failure of the federal government to promptly act. 

TEC has welcomed the reforms and will be providing our thoughts on the best way forward.   The B-cycle failure serves as another example of voluntary schemes delaying effective action over the products they intend to address, avoiding the majority of the costs required to mitigate the environmental and human harm impacts.