On 1 October 2026, the Product Lifecycle Responsibility Regulation 2026 (the Regulation) came into effect, establishing Australia’s first mandatory product stewardship scheme for batteries.[1] The Regulation is the first made under the Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act 2025 (NSW) (the Act), which we considered in our article New Energy Bulletin: The Product Lifecycle Responsibility Bill 2025 – Hamilton Locke.
What’s changed?
Brand owners supplying regulated batteries into New South Wales, including importers and interstate or offshore suppliers, must now participate in the scheme.[2] Regulated batteries are household and portable batteries including AA and button batteries, power banks, removable rechargeable batteries of 5 kg or less, and e-bike and e-scooter batteries.[3] Brand owners supplying less than 24 kg of regulated batteries in New South Wales in a financial year are exempt from the core obligations.[4] Grid-scale BESS and home energy storage systems are not captured.[5]
Key obligations for brand owners are as follows:
- (PSO agreement) If the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has appointed, and entered into a stewardship administration agreement with, a Product Stewardship Organisation (PSO) for the relevant regulated battery type to administer the scheme, the brand owner must enter into an agreement with the PSO and comply with its obligations. To date, the EPA has not appointed a PSO. In the interim, a brand owner must itself comply with the prescribed product stewardship scheme requirements.
- (First supply) Notify the EPA prior to its first supply of a regulated battery and, prior to its first supply, prepare and lodge with the EPA an action plan setting out actions that will be taken to prevent batteries entering landfill, ensure the safety and financial viability of collection and recycling arrangements for regulated batteries and ensure there are sufficient, accessible collection points for regulated batteries that are communicated to consumers, among other objectives.
- (Consumer information) Inform consumers about safe disposal and recycling of their supplied regulated batteries.
- (Records) Keep records of consumer education and, for each regulated battery type, the number, weight and chemistry of batteries supplied into New South Wales for each financial year.
For more detail on the scheme’s obligations and penalties for non-compliance, please see our previous article New Energy Bulletin: Australia’s first mandatory battery stewardship scheme – what you need to know.
What’s next?
The Act is product-agnostic, and solar panels are next. In September 2026, the NSW Environment Protection Authority released the draft Product Lifecycle Responsibility Amendment (Photovoltaic Panels) Regulation 2026 for consultation. Submissions close at 5pm on 16 November 2026.[6]
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) s 2.
[2] Ibid s 9(1); Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act 2025 (NSW) s 5.
[3] Product Lifecycle Responsibility Regulation 2026 (NSW) ss 7(1), 8.
[4] Ibid s 5.
[5] Ibid s 7(3).
[6] NSW Environment Protection Authority, ‘Product stewardship schemes’ (updated 20 September 2026) <https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/Your-environment/Recycling-and-reuse/warr-strategy/product-stewardship-schemes>.
