AIEN Event
Advancements in Battery Recycling for Fire Risk Reduction
Webinar
10:00am – 12:00pm AEST
Wednesday 14 August 2024
TICKETS
AIEN Members: $77 inc GST
Non Member $110 inc GST
The use of batteries is increasing throughout our economy to help in the energy transition. Batteries of difference sizes and chemistries are being used in just about every aspect of our lives – in household appliances, toys, portable tools, domestic and commercial power storage, electric vehicles, mobile industrial plant and even heavy transport vehicles.
Australia is rapidly adopting these new applications for batteries, and we have some of the world’s largest deposits of critical minerals to support battery manufacturing – yet we have little recycling capability to recover the critical minerals in these batteries to support a circular economy. Whilst the recovery of used lead acid batteries is high, it is estimated that 24,300 tonnes of batteries still end up in landfill in year. For some battery types, such as lithium-ion, the recycling rates are extremely low, at an estimated 3%*.
Collection and recycling of batteries at end of life is needed to avoid the disposal of batteries to the general waste stream. The presence of high-energy storage batteries in waste and recycling streams collected at the household level have led to a spate of fires in collection vehicles, material processing facilities and at landfills.
This webinar will explore the issues surrounding the problems of incorrect disposal of batteries to the waste stream, and new facilities that are being constructed that will help to collect, sort and process batteries – helping to divert them from the waste stream and ensure they are recycled to support the circular economy.
* Langdon, R, Dominish, E., & Lara, H. (2023). B-cycle Benchmarking Program: Market Analysis & Fate Mapping, and Life Cycle Analysis. Sydney: Institute for Sustainable Futures. Internet publication: https://bcycle.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Battery-MA-Report-FINAL-20230927.pdf
PRELIMINARY WEBINAR PROGRAM
Colin Barker, Chair – Australian Industrial Ecology Network
Dr Mark Jackson, Director – Jackson Environment and Plannin
Dr Michael Logan, Director Research and Scientific Branch –
QLD Fire and Emergency Services
Craig Ley, General Manager – Battery Recyclers
Bede Wolf, Sustainability Lead – SK Tes
Led by Dr Mark Jackson, Jackson Environment and Planning Pty Ltd
Every effort has been made to present all the information contained in this website as accurately as possible. The AIEN reserves the right to change, without notice, any or all of these details.
SPEAKERS
Dr Michael Logan
Director Research and Scientific Branch - QLD Fire and Emergency Services
Michael Logan is the Director of the Research and Scientific Branch (RSB) within the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES). He has a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of New South Wales and has numerous specific qualifications across emergency management.
He has also recently been appointed as an Adjunct Professor within the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences at the University of Queensland.
Craig Ley
General Manager - Battery Recyclers
Craig Ley, Director of Battery Recyclers Pty Ltd and Contract Manager of Sell and Parker Pty Ltd, is Australia’s largest private metal recycler, established in 1966.
With over 20 years of experience in the recycling industry, Craig has Direct knowledge of the challenges of batteries within the scrap and waste industry.
Bede Wolf
Sustainability Lead - SK Tes
Dr Mark Jackson
Director and Principal Consultant, Jackson Environment and Planning
Mark is an infrastructure specialist and has 30 years’ experience in the field. Mark is passionate about good infrastructure design, planning approvals and licensing of waste and recycling facilities. He has supported the environmental planning, approvals and licensing of some of the largest waste and recycling infrastructure projects in NSW. Mark is the founder of a specialist infrastructure planning firm in North Sydney, Jackson Environment and Planning Pty Ltd since 2016. He also has 12 years’ experience in the NSW Environment Protection Authority, leading some of the largest recycling industry development, regulatory support and infrastructure investment programs in the country’s history.