Lithium Batteries

Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (14:13): My question is to the Minister for Environment. Can the minister advise whether the government plans to introduce lithium battery stewardship laws like those recently passed in New South Wales and, if so, when? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr ELLIS: I understand that all our nation's environment ministers agreed on that particular course of action in a December meeting last year, but I have been contacted by businesses in my electorate who are struggling to properly dispose of the dangerous lithium batteries.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Workforce and Population Strategy) (14:13): I welcome the question. The disposal of all batteries, but lithium in particular, is a fraught one, given that it is not merely, although importantly, a question of recycling and making sure that we are not wasting resources and we are not polluting the environment. It is also a human safety problem because the fires that are caused by some lithium batteries, particularly if they are disposed of inappropriately in landfill or appear in a recycling facility that isn't geared to take them, can be highly destructive and very dangerous for people.

We had a meeting late last year—I am trying to remember; I am looking at the then Minister for Emergency Services—where we got everybody involved together, from recycling and manufacturing but also from emergency services, firefighting and so on, to talk about the ways in which these batteries do cause problems.

The member is almost right in the description of what happened at the ministerial council. There is a general view at the ministerial council of environment ministers that it is desirable that there be product stewardship applied to batteries, and to other products, at a national level. That is to say that if a product is sold in Australia, whether imported or made here, a small amount is added to the price of that product in order for the producer to then be responsible for taking it back at the other end and disposing of it appropriately. Because the producer is required to add to the cost and be responsible for the scheme, they will make that work as efficiently as possible.

There hasn't been movement at the federal level for that. I don't know, with the new minister, if that might be the case, but in the absence of an Australian approach, which is the preferred model for all states, the New South Wales minister, Penny Sharpe, went ahead and brought in a piece of legislation that enables her to do that. That legislation has now gone through their parliament, and the other states are all looking at it and looking at how it is going to operate, in order to determine whether we would replicate that.

That is the important big policy area, and it is one that I think repays a lot of attention. Clearly with only, I think, five weeks after this one of sitting, it's not a piece of legislation that will occur in this term of parliament, but it is worth looking at in the future, particularly once it is in operation in New South Wales, so that we can understand the good and the bad in its application.

I would say, though, for anyone who is considering disposing of batteries, we are not just talking about the big end, the electric car battery. We are talking about electric toothbrushes, even—and the Premier might like to listen to this—the Taylor Swift concert bracelets that light up and sparkle. I suspect you might have acquired a few into your household. They have little batteries in them, and people don't always think about it, so when they are finished they throw them away. I am sure those ones haven't been thrown away, but if they are thrown away, they can make their way into landfill and they can cause a fire.

So, please pay attention to what you have that has a battery that is part of the product and therefore is a risk if you simply throw that product away when it is no longer working or useful. If you go onto whichbin.sa.gov.au and look at all of the alternatives for where you can take batteries, there is an organisation called B-cycle which is government-backed, which accepts batteries, treats them safely and stores them. Please encourage people. If they can't see one in their local area—appreciating that this is a regional electorate we are talking about—they can get in touch either directly with Green Industries or with my office and we will help find a place that can take those batteries.