On 20 February 2026, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) published the Product Lifecycle Responsibility Regulation 2026 (the Regulation), made under the Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act 2025 (NSW) (the Act).1 The Regulation establishes Australia’s first mandatory product stewardship scheme for batteries and will come into effect on 1 October 2026. Product stewardship means taking responsibility for a product throughout its entire lifecycle – from design and production to use, recovery, recycling, and final disposal.2 This is a landmark step in NSW’s transition to a circular economy.
What Has Changed?
The Regulation moves NSW from a voluntary, industry-led model (the B-Cycle scheme, which achieved a collection rate of just 15.3%) to a mandatory framework backed by civil and criminal penalties.3 It designates the following as regulated batteries:
- standard household sizes (AAA, AA, C, D, 9V, 6V lantern);
- button and button cell batteries;
- removable rechargeable batteries weighing 5 kg or less;
- rechargeable batteries used to power e-micromobility devices (including e-bikes and e-scooters, whether or not the battery is removable); and
- portable power banks weighing 5 kg or less.4
Note that lead-acid, mobile phone and laptop batteries are expressly excluded from the current scope.5
The PSO Appointment Process
The EPA’s preferred model is to enter into a stewardship administration agreement with one or more Product Stewardship Organisations (PSOs), likely via a request-for-proposal process, to administer the scheme on behalf of brand owners.6 A PSO must prepare and publish an approved action plan detailing how it will deliver collection, recycling, public education, and safety outcomes.7 Brand owners must then join a designated PSO and pay scheme fees. Until a PSO is appointed, brand owners remain individually responsible under the Regulation.
What This Means for Stakeholders
Producers and importers must identify whether they are the ‘brand owner’, which is defined as including the person who is responsible for bringing a regulated battery into NSW for supply (but does not include those only transporting the battery on behalf of another).8 Brand owners must register with a PSO once appointed. They must also notify before first supply, maintain records for at least six years, and report annually.9 Non-compliance with safety requirements carries penalties of up to $880,000 for corporations and $220,000 for individuals.10 Critically, the Regulation has extraterritorial reach which means that interstate and overseas businesses supplying batteries into NSW are captured regardless of where they are based.11
Retailers will need to ensure their own supply arrangements reflect scheme membership requirements, as the Act squarely targets the brand owner name on each product.
Consumers can expect an expanded network of dedicated battery drop-off points across NSW from 1 October 2026, together with improved public education on safe battery disposal.12
Our View
The Regulation delivers on the NSW Government’s stated ambition to hold product suppliers accountable across the entire lifecycle of what they sell. With the 1 October 2026 commencement fast approaching, and the PSO appointment process yet to conclude, affected businesses should act now to assess their obligations, map their supply chains, and engage with emerging scheme arrangements.
While the initial focus of the product stewardship legislation is on batteries, the underlying framework is product-agnostic and may establish a standing mechanism for mandatory stewardship schemes to be extended to other product categories in future. The same regulatory model that is intended to apply to batteries – including market-access conditions, reporting obligations and scheme participation requirements – can be applied to other products by future regulations.
The Hamilton Locke team advises across the energy project life cycle – from project development, grid connection, financing, and construction, including the buying and selling of development and operating projects. For more information, please contact Matt Baumgurtel.
1 Product Lifecycle Responsibility Regulation 2026 (NSW); EPA, ‘Product stewardship schemes’ (updated 20 February 2026) <epa.nsw.gov.au>.
2 Ibid.
3 NSW EPA, Regulatory Impact Statement – Product Lifecycle Responsibility Regulation 2025 (October 2025) 6 (‘RIS’).
4 EPA, ‘Product stewardship schemes’ (updated 20 February 2026) < https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/Your-environment/Recycling-and-reuse/warr-strategy/product-stewardship-schemes> (‘EPA’).
5 Product Lifecycle Responsibility Regulation 2026 (NSW); RIS (n 2) 10.
6 RIS (n 2) 8; EPA (n 3).
7 NSW EPA, ‘Draft Product Lifecycle Responsibility Regulation’ (consultation closed 14 November 2025) < https://yoursay.epa.nsw.gov.au/draft-product-lifecycle-responsibility-regulation>.
8 Product Lifecycle Responsibility Regulation 2026 (NSW) s 9.
9 Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act 2025 (NSW) s 8 and 11; Product Lifecycle Responsibility Regulation 2026 (NSW).
10 Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act 2025 (NSW); Hamilton Locke, ‘New Energy Bulletin: The Product Lifecycle Responsibility Bill 2025’ (27 March 2025).
11 Compliance & Risks, ‘Understanding the NSW Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act 2025’ (September 2025) <complianceandrisks.com>.
12 EPA (n 4).
