1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,160 Speaker 1: There are calls for urgent action on old batteries because 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,080 Speaker 1: the number of battery fires at waste and recycling facilities 3 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,080 Speaker 1: has gone through the roof this year. It's probably sparked, 4 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: they think, by more and more lithium ion batteries from 5 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: the likes of old phones, vapes and so on being 6 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: thrown in the rubbish. Nick Quilty is the chief executive 7 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,279 Speaker 1: of Wastemans and with us, Hey, Nick, Hi, Heather, how 8 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:21,439 Speaker 1: I'm well thanks? How many more fires are you saying? 9 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,959 Speaker 2: Well? In Auckland alone in the first quarter of this 10 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 2: year there were nine fires triggered by batteries and there 11 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 2: were thirteen in the whole of last year, so you 12 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,599 Speaker 2: can see that they're just increasingly increasing, quite rapidly. 13 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: And do you think these are caused by like the 14 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 1: batteries and vapes rather than your triple a's. 15 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 2: Look, they could be anything. They could be vapes, batteries 16 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 2: and vapes. They could be in your mobile phone, they 17 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,239 Speaker 2: could be in laptops, they could be in iPads, they 18 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 2: could be in consoles, they could be from kids' toys. 19 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 2: Batteries that are just prolific and we are just buying 20 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 2: more and more electronic goods. So it's just getting becoming 21 00:00:57,560 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 2: a bigger and bigger problem. 22 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: So do you know what which of the two is worse? 23 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 1: If you chuck your vapor in the rubbish, is that 24 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,119 Speaker 1: as likely to spark a fire as if you chuck 25 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: your old triple A battery. 26 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 2: Locke, I don't think any of them are good. I'll 27 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 2: tell you what happens once they end up in you. 28 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 2: If someone puts them in their rubbish bin or their 29 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,479 Speaker 2: recycling bin that ends up at curbside, a truck then 30 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 2: picks it up. If it ends up in a rubbish truck, 31 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 2: it's going to be squashed, It's going to be compacted. 32 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 2: It could be punched, it could be shredded, it could 33 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,839 Speaker 2: be soaked in liquids. Also happens in the recycling truck 34 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 2: as well. And then what happens is all of these batteries, 35 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 2: well some of them, but can get very hot. And 36 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 2: then what happens is they ignite and they can cause fires. 37 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: Nick, I'm going to give myself away here. What are 38 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: you supposed to do with your battery lock? 39 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 2: I'll tell you what you need to do. So Wasteman's 40 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 2: were an industry body. We work with a waste resource 41 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 2: for covering contaminated land sectors. We have a map on 42 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 2: our website. We've got a working group that is working 43 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 2: on this, and it shows you where you can take 44 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 2: your batteries. Most of the facilities are free of charge. 45 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 2: Some of them cost a little bit of money, but 46 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 2: not much. That's the best thing to do, but you 47 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 2: need to contact. Once you found which facility is closest 48 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 2: to you, you contact the facility and you just find 49 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:22,239 Speaker 2: out what the process is, what you need, or you 50 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 2: drop them off. I know, and and look, this is 51 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,639 Speaker 2: a problem. I think what happens is people just take 52 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 2: the easy road and they go, oh, I don't want 53 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 2: to drive anywhere. I just want to just get rid 54 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 2: of them. I want them out of my house. 55 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: Now you're telling me I've got to make a phone 56 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: call first, and then I've got to drive, and then 57 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: I may have to pay money, whereas I could just 58 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 1: go to the kitchen, open the bin and check it in. 59 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 2: Well, you could, but you could cause a fire and 60 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 2: cause a fire. Could you could Number one, you could 61 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 2: hurt someone who's who's collecting the rubbish and the ends 62 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 2: up a fire in their truck. You could hurt a 63 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 2: member of the public who happens to be near the 64 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 2: recycling truck. You could damage the infrastructure where the fire 65 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 2: is taking place. So you know that's not great. 66 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: So how do we get around this issue? 67 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 2: Right? 68 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,960 Speaker 1: We have a major obstacle admin obstacle there to get 69 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 1: rid of batteries, So how do you get around that? 70 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,640 Speaker 2: So what we want, because there's no national direction for 71 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,960 Speaker 2: battery disposal, So what we want is we want the 72 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 2: government to prioritize a mandatory product stewardship scheme for small batteries. 73 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 2: And when I say small batteries, I mean under five kilograms. 74 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,239 Speaker 2: And then what would happen is the cost of disposing 75 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 2: that battery would be included in the price that you 76 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 2: would pay when you purchase a battery, and this very 77 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 2: small increase could be used for more infrastructure and public messaging, 78 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 2: and that public messaging would be consistent across all of 79 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 2: New Zealand because at the moment, because there's no national direction, 80 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 2: all the messaging is just different depending on what region 81 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 2: you go to, and people just get really confused. And 82 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 2: that's one of the reasons why people throw them in 83 00:03:57,920 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 2: their bins and put them out at cups. 84 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: A text saying here, the Bunnings takes them. Everyone loves 85 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: a trip to Bunnings. 86 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 2: So yeah, take them. 87 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: Yes, Nick, what you just say that Bunnings takes. 88 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 2: Well, there's lots of others that take them as well. 89 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 2: Might attend, take them, Phoenix Recycling, there's a whole lot 90 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 2: of I mean, for some people, they might not have 91 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:18,720 Speaker 2: the Bunnings. It's close to them, especially in some of 92 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 2: those really small areas. But yes, Bunnings does take them, 93 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 2: and they take them free of charge. 94 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: Okay, thank you for that. 95 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:23,720 Speaker 2: Nick. 96 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: There we go. That's the problem solved. Bunnings and might attend. 97 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: That's Nick quality of Wasteman's the chief executive. For more 98 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 1: from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to news talks. 99 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,479 Speaker 1: It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast 100 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:38,600 Speaker 1: on iHeartRadio.