A subsidiary of Lithium Australia (ASX: LIT) has received Dangerous Goods approvals, in an Australian first, for its 6kg and 12kg boxes to collect and transport mixed batteries for recycling.
Envirostream Australia designed and received approval of its packages in in anticipation of the Australian Battery Stewardship Council’s (BSC) collection and recycling scheme launch in January 2022.
The scheme, which the Australian BSC secured $1m in Federal Government and industry funding for, also details a national network of drop off options.
Envirostream managing editor Andrew Mackenzie says the scheme is vital to improving Australia’s battery recycling rates, which currently sits at a low 10% compared to other countries.
“We’re developing mixed-battery collection systems designed for convenience and approved for safety and the mitigation of environmental risk,” he said.
Demand for battery critical minerals will jump 500% by 2050, according to the World Bank’s Minerals for Climate Action (2020) report, with a potentially significant and sustainable source of this being the recycling of spent batteries.
However, most spent batteries in Australia are relegated to landfill, potentially polluting the environment, including waterways.
Further data from the BSC show that European countries are leading the way in battery recycling rates, with Sweden sitting at 71%, followed by both Luxembourg and Sweden at 61%.
Battery-critical commodities like nickel and cobalt are forecast to be in deficit by 2028 and Lithium Australia is keen to get as much of these materials as possible back into the supply chain.
Envirostream’s storage and transportation boxes (pictured above and designed to hold both lithium-ion and alkaline batteries) have been approved in accordance with the Dangerous Goods (Transport by Road or Rail) Regulations 2018: Testing Facility Certificate Numbers 8908A and 8910A.
The batteries are to be packed in accordance with ADG7.7 packing instructions P909, which will be included with each container.
