The ACCC 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's members and industry participants would be able to meet their participation requirements under the BSC's B-cycle Battery Stewardship Scheme without breaching competition law under the ACCC's 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.
"Our role in this process is to determine whether the collaboration and price agreement between the BSC's 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," ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.
"We 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."
"We acknowledge the Scheme's 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," Mr Keogh said.
The ACCC 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 ACCC 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' time.
Some interested parties proposed a shorter authorisation period of 2-3 years due to uncertainty around the anticipated introduction of mandatory product stewardship legislation, and the current low collection rates of the Scheme.
"We don't consider that the BSC's proposed conduct will delay or deter other regulatory approaches to battery stewardship in the short to medium term, although the ACCC seeks further submissions on the proposed duration of authorisation," Mr Keogh said.
More information, including the ACCC's draft determination, is available online on the ACCC's public register at Battery Stewardship Council.
Note
The ACCC is not an environmental regulator. The ACCC's role as Australia's competition regulator includes assessing applications for authorisation. ACCC 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 ACCC 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 ACCC is not involved in the operational aspects of the scheme.
Broadly, the ACCC 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's 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's 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's 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 ACCC 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's 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 ACCC assesses the substantive application for authorisation.
