NSW's New Battery Rules Start 1 October: What Changes for Households and Businesses

Regulation update

From 1 October 2026, NSW becomes the first Australian state to make battery stewardship mandatory. The Product Lifecycle Responsibility Regulation 2026 puts responsibility for collecting and recycling batteries onto the businesses that sell them, with a clear goal: keep batteries out of household bins, commercial waste and landfill.

Why NSW is doing this

When the draft regulation went out for consultation in October 2025, the NSW Environment Protection Authority reported 241 battery-related fire incidents in the state that year to date, and said moving from a voluntary scheme to a mandatory one would help bring that number down (NSW Environment Protection Authority [NSW EPA], 2025). Environment Minister Penny Sharpe described these fires as hot, fast and very difficult to put out.

The risk doesn't end at the front door. A battery thrown into general waste gets crushed in the garbage truck, the transfer station and the sorting line. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency identified 245 fires at 64 waste and recycling facilities between 2013 and 2020 that were caused, or likely caused, by lithium batteries (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [U.S. EPA], 2021).

Which batteries the scheme covers

The regulation applies to commonly used portable batteries: standard household sizes, button cells, small removable rechargeable batteries, and the batteries that power e-micromobility devices, meaning e-bikes, e-scooters, self-balancing scooters and electric skateboards. Where an e-micromobility battery can't practicably be removed, the whole device is treated as the regulated battery. Lead-acid, mobile phone, laptop and tablet batteries are excluded (Product Lifecycle Responsibility Regulation 2026 [NSW]).

Excluded from the scheme does not mean safe to bin. Phones, laptops and tablets still carry lithium-ion cells, and they still belong at a proper e-waste or battery collection point, never in the red or yellow bin.

What changes for brands and importers

Brand owners who supply batteries into NSW, including businesses that import them, must join a Product Stewardship Organisation. Together they must lodge action plans and report on supply, collection, recycling and safety, including incidents such as battery fires at collection points (Hamilton Locke, 2026). Brand owners who don't comply face penalties of up to $880,000 (NSW EPA, 2025).

How it compares overseas

The European Union took a similar path with its Batteries Regulation, which extends producer responsibility across every battery category, including batteries for light means of transport such as e-bikes and e-scooters (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2023). The principle behind both schemes is the same: the business that puts a battery on the market helps pay for what happens to it at the end of its life.

What you should do now

• Keep batteries out of every bin. Household, recycling and garden waste bins are all the wrong place.
• Tape the terminals of lithium batteries before you drop them off, to reduce the chance of a short circuit in the collection box.
• Use a battery collection point at a participating retailer or your council's drop-off facility.
• Isolate damaged batteries. A swollen, dropped, water-damaged or unusually hot battery should never go back on the charger. Keep it away from exits and anything flammable until you can drop it off, ideally in a fire-resistant containment bag.
• Don't stockpile. A drawer full of dead batteries is a fire load waiting for a fault.

For fleets, workshops and waste sites

If your site collects, stores or handles used batteries, the new scheme is a good prompt to set up a proper quarantine point: a marked, ventilated spot away from exits, containment for damaged packs, and the right extinguisher and fire blanket within reach. Our Waste & Recycling guide covers site set-up in more detail, and our Business & Bulk team can help with multi-site orders.

A containment bag isolates a failing battery and buys time. It does not extinguish a lithium-ion fire. If a battery ignites, get clear and call 000.