Waste and Recycling Industry of Queensland – Management of End-of-Life Lithium Batteries
The Queensland Government has provided grant funding of $480,000 over fourteen months for the Waste and Recycling Industry of Queensland (WRIQ) to engage with the waste and resource recovery industry. This funding was provided to target the development and implementation of awareness, compliance practices, innovation and supporting strategies to manage the safe collection and handling of end-of-life batteries across Queensland.
End-of-life batteries have inherent dangers that are currently placing increased pressure on the waste and resource recovery industry, with battery fires damaging infrastructure and creating safety and environmental risks that require immediate attention.
This industry-led project focused on:
- delivering safe management of batteries throughout the waste and resource recovery supply chain, including understanding handling and transport obligations
- broadening industry, community awareness and messaging to promote greater understanding of appropriate safe handling of batteries and the risks associated with inappropriate storage and disposal by highlighting the impact on workers
- harnessing the expertise within the sector to develop innovative industry-led solutions through an Industry Advisory Roundtable and Innovation Challenge
- gathering intelligence to inform the waste and resource recovery industry around the impacts of improper battery disposal and management
- designing and implementing disposal and management strategies that are specifically tailored to the unique challenges and safety risks faced by both individual workers and businesses within the industry
- fostering a culture of responsibility and environmental stewardship, aimed to improve the industry’s reputation, strengthening its social license and to build positive relationships with the community.
The Innovation Challenge
The Innovation Challenge launched in early 2025 with strong national and international interest. The purpose of the Innovation Challenge was to identify solutions to preventing batteries entering the waste stream.
Several pilots emerged as highlights:
- ENCAPS (winner) and ResourceCo trialled a system to encapsulate batteries and prevent thermal runaway.
- VisionHQ worked with Remondis to apply digital monitoring that identifies early signs of battery fires.
- Detection Dog School and Cleanaway applied detection dogs to perimeter sniff across waste facilities.
Read the final report for more details: Management of End-of-Life Lithium Batteries – Shared Lessons Learned Report – Nov 2025 2.5 MB) .