WEBVTT - 'A very positive thing if it's being done properly': Shocking new claims that recycling plant is letting batteries burn 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:03.920 Okay. Our next guest lecturer at Deakin University in Hazardous 0:00:03.960 --> 0:00:06.800 Materials management, Doctor Trevor Thornton. Good morning. 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:07.920 Good morning Tom. 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:11.880 So the latest uh well maybe it's a boondoggle in 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:14.920 recycling is appears to be batteries. So this company eco 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:18.520 cycle is where the batteries collected at supermarkets go. But 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:21.960 it is alleged not proven alleged that eco cycle is 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:26.279 sending them to landfill and or burning them. Now, obviously, 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:28.240 if that's true, that's not a good way to deal 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:31.840 with used batteries. But does it is it profitable or 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:35.159 can use batteries be economically made into something else? 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:38.840 Yeah, yeah. So batteries, all the components of it. There's 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:41.640 a lot of, you know, valuable metals in them. So 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:45.240 the process is basically to break that down. And then 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:48.920 all those valuable materials are metals rather can be recovered 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:53.280 and used for whatever purposes. So they're suitable for. So 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.120 in terms of battery recycling it is a very positive 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:58.000 thing if it's being done properly. 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.120 But why would Eco Cycle not be doing it properly? 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:03.670 Is it because maybe they can't make money out of it, 0:01:03.670 --> 0:01:05.750 or there isn't the demand for the metals? Or is 0:01:05.750 --> 0:01:08.630 it like another sort of plastic bag in warehouse scenario? 0:01:09.470 --> 0:01:12.069 It's a bit of all of the above. As such, 0:01:12.510 --> 0:01:15.069 the bottom line at the end of the day is, 0:01:15.110 --> 0:01:19.350 is is it economically viable to recycle or any material, 0:01:19.350 --> 0:01:22.070 not just batteries, but anything as such. And part of 0:01:22.069 --> 0:01:25.509 the problem was we in Australia and businesses are not 0:01:25.510 --> 0:01:29.350 using these recycled materials as their raw materials. So the 0:01:29.350 --> 0:01:33.510 cost of, um, of, I guess, processing and making it 0:01:33.510 --> 0:01:36.710 into a suitable thing is not being met by people 0:01:36.750 --> 0:01:37.470 buying it. 0:01:37.550 --> 0:01:40.190 See, see, the problem is I can go and get 0:01:40.230 --> 0:01:42.550 one of the cheaper brands of, say, triple A batteries, 0:01:42.590 --> 0:01:44.750 you know, $10 will buy you a packet of 20 0:01:44.790 --> 0:01:48.350 or something. So let's say they're $0.50 each. Now, something 0:01:48.350 --> 0:01:51.630 that you can buy brand new, full of power for $0.50. 0:01:51.990 --> 0:01:56.270 I'm struggling to understand can can that thing there be 0:01:56.310 --> 0:02:00.110 be be transported from the supermarket to the recycler. The 0:02:00.110 --> 0:02:04.070 recycler pulls it apart, you know, assembles the various metals 0:02:04.070 --> 0:02:08.940 and things and somehow make close to $0.50 worth of value. 0:02:09.940 --> 0:02:12.540 What we've got to look at is what is the alternative? 0:02:12.540 --> 0:02:16.019 So if, for example, you don't recycle your batteries, I'll 0:02:16.020 --> 0:02:18.260 end up going into, you know, your red bin at 0:02:18.260 --> 0:02:21.540 home or wherever. And as we know, there's causing a 0:02:21.540 --> 0:02:25.420 lot of fires, a lot of contamination in landfills, etc. 0:02:25.980 --> 0:02:29.220 what we've got to accept is if we're using materials, 0:02:29.220 --> 0:02:32.380 we've also got to be able to recognise we have 0:02:32.380 --> 0:02:36.140 to pay for the recycling, etc. the environmental, I guess, 0:02:36.180 --> 0:02:37.700 management of those materials. 0:02:37.740 --> 0:02:40.419 Mhm. See, the problem is, without looking at where they're made, 0:02:40.419 --> 0:02:42.060 my guess is that a lot of the batteries are 0:02:42.060 --> 0:02:43.860 just made in China, and it's very cheap, and they 0:02:43.860 --> 0:02:46.700 don't worry too much about that. They export them to Australia. 0:02:46.700 --> 0:02:48.700 We buy them, we use them. And then it's like, oh, 0:02:48.740 --> 0:02:49.740 what do we do now? 0:02:50.340 --> 0:02:54.540 Yeah, exactly. So, you know, we have things like product 0:02:54.540 --> 0:02:59.060 stewardship schemes, extended producer responsibility schemes, etc. so it's like 0:02:59.060 --> 0:03:02.820 with TVs, you know, the, the industry has to have 0:03:02.820 --> 0:03:05.660 a recycling scheme in place, which might put a few 0:03:05.660 --> 0:03:09.250 dollars onto the, the cost of purchasing the the TV 0:03:09.250 --> 0:03:13.730 or whatever the material is. That way, if you've already 0:03:13.730 --> 0:03:15.610 paid for the recycling of it, right. 0:03:15.650 --> 0:03:19.650 So what you're saying is somehow with the sale of batteries, 0:03:19.650 --> 0:03:23.090 we have to add an amount that would might go 0:03:23.130 --> 0:03:26.370 as almost like a subsidy towards this company or other companies, 0:03:26.370 --> 0:03:30.730 and that allows them to recycle them in an efficient 0:03:30.730 --> 0:03:32.690 and profitable manner. 0:03:33.169 --> 0:03:36.690 Yes. And that added cost is already there through, uh, 0:03:37.450 --> 0:03:41.690 the extended producer scheme that applies to batteries, etc.. So 0:03:41.850 --> 0:03:44.650 what it is, is again, it gets back to, uh, 0:03:44.770 --> 0:03:47.290 part of the whole process is, is the fact that 0:03:47.330 --> 0:03:50.130 if I'm recycling batteries, I want to sell that material. 0:03:50.330 --> 0:03:52.850 AM I going to recover enough to, uh, you know, 0:03:52.890 --> 0:03:55.010 cover the cost of processing and a little bit of 0:03:55.010 --> 0:03:55.970 profit as well? 0:03:56.050 --> 0:03:57.170 Um, and. 0:03:57.210 --> 0:03:58.170 That's not happening. 0:03:58.210 --> 0:04:00.530 Yeah. Well, that's the. Okay. And just quickly, where are 0:04:00.530 --> 0:04:02.690 we at with plastic bags now? Like I remember, you know, 0:04:02.730 --> 0:04:05.210 trying to do the right thing, you know, taking my 0:04:05.210 --> 0:04:07.730 surplus plastic bags down to the supermarket thinking, oh, this 0:04:07.730 --> 0:04:09.960 is good. And then we found that it wasn't good. 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.280 Has that been fixed up in Australia now? Like, are 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:14.920 we are we able to do something with all these 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:15.840 plastic bags? 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:19.120 Yes. Just just recently, uh, you know, that falls in 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:22.120 the category of soft plastics. So just recently has announced that, 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:25.960 you know, soft plastics is coming back into, uh, recycling. 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:28.479 So hopefully we'll be able to do that. But again, 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:31.480 it goes back to we've got to have businesses buying that, uh, 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:35.599 processed material. Otherwise we'll end up as we were before, 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:39.160 just getting dumped and stockpiled and causing all those problems. 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:43.320 All right. Thank you, Doctor Trevor. Trevor Thornton there, lecturer 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:48.279 at Deakin University. So if for recycling to work we 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:50.200 actually have to pay a sort of like a fee 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:53.400 when we buy something new. And I might add, there's 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.960 a whole unknown industry that's coming at us all problem 0:04:57.360 --> 0:05:01.400 solar panels that have run out of their useful lives batteries, 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:05.600 home batteries, car batteries, not just, you know, triple A batteries, uh, 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.920 scooter batteries, they don't last forever. You know, do we 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:11.560 have the ability to recycle them properly before they burst 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:12.479 into flames?