The Battery Stewardship Council (BSC), Australia’s official product stewardship scheme for batteries, has opened industry consultation on its proposal to future-proof the B-cycle Scheme.

Representatives from industry, governments and organisations are invited to provide written feedback on the B-cycle Scheme Review Consultation Paper.

Additionally, in-person consultation events are taking place around Australia during July 2024.

The review of B-cycle is being conducted because the Scheme recognises market changes and the evolving risk profile of batteries, necessitating adaptations to the current Scheme design.

By implementing changes proposed in the Scheme Review, B-cycle aims to achieve its mission of establishing a circular economy for batteries in Australia.

In preparation for this Scheme review and consultation, BSC acknowledges:

– B-cycle has built a solid foundation for improving battery stewardship and for leveraging our experience and learnings since launch in early 2022,

– The current Scheme Design is limited in its ability to deliver BSC’s mission to create a circular economy for batteries given the degree of market change and the changing risk profile of batteries,

– The current Scheme Design does not provide adequate financial arrangements necessary for a range of market and economic changes and trends,

– Regulation will be needed to ensure full participation in the Scheme and prevent free-riding. Once feedback is received, BSC will refine the proposed Scheme design and conduct further consultation as needed. The final approach will be informed by industry feedback and subject to approval by the BSC Board, and the authorisation of the ACCC, to launch B-cycle 2.0 in July 2025.

The deadline for written feedback on the consultation paper is 2 August 2024. All written feedback can be submitted on the B-cycle Scheme Review Feedback page.

In-person consultation events include Brisbane: Thursday 18 July, 10am to 3pm including lunch (register here), Melbourne: Tuesday 23 July 10am to 3pm including lunch (register here) and Sydney: Thursday 25 July, 10am to 3pm including lunch (register here).